Results 391 to 420 of 1478
-
2014-04-11, 06:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2006
- Location
- Under a 1st Ed AD&D DMG
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Hmmm...based upon what you listed:
Liz Williams Detective Inspector Chen series seems up your alley a way. I just finished Brent Weeks Way of Shadows and it's extremely long, but if you liked Codex Alera, you might enjoy it. The First Chronicles of Amber by Zalazny might also tickle your fancy.
things get a little greyer past that, particularly because so much of my collection is in a huge pile to be sorted. Michael J. Sullivan's Hollow World is Great, so if you like fairly hard scifi, you might like it. There's also an anthology called Weird Detectives you might try.
More as they come to mind.
-
2014-04-12, 06:54 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2011
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Do eeeeet
If you liked Guy Gavriel Kay's stuff, take a look at Conn Iggulden. He also writes historical fiction. His Conqueror series about Genghis is pretty good, and I've heard good things about his Roman series as well.
Also, have you read Good Omens? And if not, why not?Last edited by Feytalist; 2014-04-12 at 07:04 AM. Reason: formatting oh my
Awesome fremetar by wxdruid.
From the discomfort of truth there is only one refuge and that is ignorance. I do not need to be comfortable, and I will not take refuge. I demand to *know*.
So I guess I have an internets? | And a trophy. | And a music cookie (whatever that is).
-
2014-04-12, 11:21 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2007
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
I have read the first of the Way of Shadows books. It sadly didn't do much for me. I think it fell into the pitfall that Codex Alera and Song of Ice and Fire both also fall into: they're trying to tell too many stories. Way of Shadows had an interesting story just in the assassin character alone, I found myself just wanting to read more about him. Alera and SOIAF also have stories just in the political backbiting and maneuvering, they don't need their respective exterior threats in the White Walkers and the *minor spoiler*Vord (Zerg)*/minor spoiler* In fact I think they detract from their respective stories.
I'll have to look into the others, though. Thanks.
I have read Good Omens, of course Neverwhere and American Gods as well. Hell, I positively devoured Neverwhere. Finished it in a single plane ride.
-
2014-04-12, 01:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2008
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
It's times like these where the classics come in. By which I mean the really, really old classics. Have you read Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Water Margin? Le Morte d'Arthur? If not, now's a good time. Romance of the Three Kingdoms in particular is an overlooked gem outside of China and it's immediate surroundings, and Water Margin is basically unknown among the general populace in Europe and the Americas, despite being awesome. Which is tragic, because it is also really good.
I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums.
I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that. -- ChubbyRain
Current Design Project: Legacy, a game of masters and apprentices for two players and a GM.
-
2014-04-12, 02:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Tail of the Bellcurve
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
On that note, it's seldom a bad time in my experience to read Homer. Preferably aloud, even if you're only reading it to yourself. I find we tend to forget the beauty and power of spoken stories, since we've become so accustomed to reading them in silence, rather than hearing them. So many things that people find well written crumble up when read aloud, while many that are considered clunky become living and vibrant and felt in blood and marrow. I find the Lord of the Rings to be a perfect example of this.
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.
-
2014-04-12, 02:28 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2008
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums.
I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that. -- ChubbyRain
Current Design Project: Legacy, a game of masters and apprentices for two players and a GM.
-
2014-04-12, 02:59 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
- Location
- avatar by Ashen Lilies
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
If SFF ennui is the problem, going to the classics will just be more of the same. I'd recommend new stuff by new writers. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie and The Martian by Andy Weir are both debut novels, published in the last year, both absolutely brilliant in completely different ways. I've flogged them both in this thread already, because I was just so thrilled to find something so new and wonderful. Brian McClellan's Promise of Blood was another debut novel that I liked a lot. I think the classics are well-trodden territory, while new writers are the ones on the frontiers.
My avatar! Isn't it just utterly diabolical? Ashen Lilies made it!
"Money cannot buy health, but I'd settle for a diamond-studded wheelchair."
― Dorothy Parker
Spoiler: Interested in Nexus FFRP? Newcomers welcome!
-
2014-04-12, 03:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Tail of the Bellcurve
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
A valid point. I've generally been fond of both Lattimore's and Fagles' translations, although neither should be taken as being exactly literal. Great for reading, less good if you're interested in figuring out exactly what Homer said and what that meant.
(One of my favorite bookstore activities is reading the first lines of an Iliad translation. You can tell a surprising amount by how somebody chooses to translate menin.)
I've found the classics to be many things over the years, but more of contemporary fantasy or sci-fi is pretty much never one of them. Unless one takes the absurdly reductive view that anything ever written which involves what we would today consider supernatural is fantasy, they really are entirely distinct things beyond some incredibly facile surface similarities.Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.
-
2014-04-12, 03:33 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2008
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Some classics, particularly relatively recent ones, are well-trodden. Older ones very much aren't, by most people. Moby Dick is well trodden, the Epic of Gilgamesh is in a style so distinct from modern writing that it is basically a frontier for a modern audience. Water Margin has never been well trodden outside of China.
Last edited by Knaight; 2014-04-12 at 03:35 PM. Reason: Inadvertently hit the profanity filter.
I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums.
I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that. -- ChubbyRain
Current Design Project: Legacy, a game of masters and apprentices for two players and a GM.
-
2014-04-12, 03:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
- Location
- avatar by Ashen Lilies
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
I see it differently. The classics, myths, legends, etc are some of the oldest stories we still have. But because of that, they are also going to be full of tired and discredited tropes and cliches. They're also going to be stories that have been told and retold and adapted since their time (e.g. Hamlet = The Lion King). Someone who is tired of stories from 10-20 years ago may find stories from 1000-2000 years ago even less compelling. Not because the stories are bad - they're classics for a reason - but simply because they're so familiar and been seen in so many forms over the years that they are no longer fresh and new.
*Not to mention all the baggage from its time and place - sexism, ableism, racism, and so on. I can only have so much of tales that fail the Bechdel test before I return to 2014 and look for something that won't make me cringe.My avatar! Isn't it just utterly diabolical? Ashen Lilies made it!
"Money cannot buy health, but I'd settle for a diamond-studded wheelchair."
― Dorothy Parker
Spoiler: Interested in Nexus FFRP? Newcomers welcome!
-
2014-04-12, 04:11 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2011
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Originally Posted by warty goblin
I find we tend to forget the beauty and power of spoken stories, since we've become so accustomed to reading them in silence, rather than hearing them. So many things that people find well written crumble up when read aloud, while many that are considered clunky become living and vibrant and felt in blood and marrow.
Tolkien understood this very well, and hearing him read passages of his own writing is quietly wonderful.
Originally Posted by Knaight
Romance of the Three Kingdoms in particular is an overlooked gem outside of China and it's immediate surroundings, and Water Margin is basically unknown among the general populace in Europe and the Americas, despite being awesome.
As for the Iliad and its various translations, I have the Fagles boxed set right here in front of me, which I've been waiting for the right time to begin. I shopped around for opinions on the best translations, and the people I asked all said essentially the same as W.G.--that the Fagles translation is not the most literal or technically precise version, but it captures the fire and spirit and passion of the original.
Originally Posted by happyturtle
....they're so familiar and been seen in so many forms over the years that they are no longer fresh and new.
Originally Posted by happyturtle
Someone who is tired of stories from 10-20 years ago may find stories from 1000-2000 years ago even less compelling.
-
2014-04-12, 05:31 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2008
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
I'd argue that the stories from 1000-2000 years ago are old enough to be less familiar, and less likely to have been seen in so many forms over the years. In my experience 100-400 years ago is much worse in this regard. This gets even more true in the context of classics that originated in non-native languages.
This I do get - though I've found this is often much worse with relatively recent classics. The Odyssey isn't a particularly racist text, and it's over two thousand years old. Gone With The Wind* is far more recent, and positively drips with racism. Heart of Darkness isn't much better.
Plus, so much of the modern stuff is also terrible in this regard - I can cut the classics some slack, at least there's an excuse there, and there's the matter of valuable historical information. With a recent book I have much more of a "Really? This is from 2010, how is it not better than this?" reaction.
*Though how that pile of drek ended up a classic in the first place is a mystery.I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums.
I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that. -- ChubbyRain
Current Design Project: Legacy, a game of masters and apprentices for two players and a GM.
-
2014-04-12, 08:39 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2007
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
I've read Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Well, an abridged version at least. I actually got interested in it from playing the Dynasty Warriors games . It's an interesting read, very different from the things I'm usually used to. Never heard of Water Margin, though...
Actually picked up Promise of Blood on your recommendation. Just saving it for my vacation next month I'll look into the other two as well.
We read Fagles' translation in college, and I fell in love with it immediately. By God, the Odyssey was interesting and full of life! Kept that one and got his translation of Iliad shortly after we graduated. Maybe it's just that the only other translation I'd read before that was a prose translation that was just bone dry. Fagles' Odyssey just grabbed me right out of the gate and absolutely refused to let go until it was done.
-
2014-04-13, 10:48 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Will soon finish my Fables readthrough. It's been good, sometimes very good. But then it gets big and weird and political and in your face.
A million thanks to Crimmy for the awesome avatar!
-
2014-04-15, 02:03 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Tail of the Bellcurve
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Which is really how a good translation of Homer should be. Unless one's interest is in academic literalism, and for some reason one doesn't know Homeric Greek, it should grab on and not let go.
Gilgamesh is indeed supremely weird seeming, but is also utterly its own thing, and not weird for the sake of weirdness. It just is that way.
I find reading in terms of tropes, cliches etc to be tediously and unproductively reductive, so I don't do it. I tend towards stories of passion - not only in the bodice-ripping sense of the term - and breaking those down into little memetic elements is often extraordinarily uninformative. I don't care about what tropes occur in a story, or if it's built expressly to 'subvert' some of them. I care about whether it makes me feel. In my experience, even though many of the classics have indeed been retold hundreds of times, the originals (or versions very close to them) are often still the most intense and moving versions of those stories, and usually far more vivid than 'original' modern stuff. I don't care that love triangles are a done thing, Lancelot, Guinevere and Arthur still cuts to the bone for me.
*Not to mention all the baggage from its time and place - sexism, ableism, racism, and so on. I can only have so much of tales that fail the Bechdel test before I return to 2014 and look for something that won't make me cringe.
One of the great advantages of living alone is that I can read bits and pieces of whatever I want aloud, whenever I want.
Tolkien understood this very well, and hearing him read passages of his own writing is quietly wonderful.
As for the Iliad and its various translations, I have the Fagles boxed set right here in front of me, which I've been waiting for the right time to begin. I shopped around for opinions on the best translations, and the people I asked all said essentially the same as W.G.--that the Fagles translation is not the most literal or technically precise version, but it captures the fire and spirit and passion of the original.
Hey, don't blame Homer for the 90s.
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.
-
2014-04-15, 03:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
- Location
- avatar by Ashen Lilies
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
To this I can reply no better than Jane Austen: "Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands."
It isn't the "gilded version" to look for the stories of women. Women were there. The disabled were there. So were all the other non-priveleged peoples who weren't history's 'winners'. Our stories just never made it to paper, and so were lost. I've spent the four decades of my life hearing and reading and viewing the stories of white male heroes, and now I'm just done with that.My avatar! Isn't it just utterly diabolical? Ashen Lilies made it!
"Money cannot buy health, but I'd settle for a diamond-studded wheelchair."
― Dorothy Parker
Spoiler: Interested in Nexus FFRP? Newcomers welcome!
-
2014-04-15, 03:06 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
ithilanor on Steam.
-
2014-04-15, 03:15 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
- Location
- avatar by Ashen Lilies
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Either Pride and Prejudice or Persuasion. Her other four novels are also wonderful, but these two are the most approachable, I believe. Persuasion is much the shorter of the two - a nice read for an afternoon or three. P&P has so much of the sparkling wit Austen is famous for.
My avatar! Isn't it just utterly diabolical? Ashen Lilies made it!
"Money cannot buy health, but I'd settle for a diamond-studded wheelchair."
― Dorothy Parker
Spoiler: Interested in Nexus FFRP? Newcomers welcome!
-
2014-04-15, 03:25 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2007
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Was going to say, if you're looking at Austen, might as well start with the one everybody knows. It never really grabbed me personally (but then, few books from that age do), but it's undeniably the place to start.
--
So I started picking up books pretty much at random from the local Half Price Books: now I have a compilation of Native American folklore, a history of the fall of Jerusalem after the Battle of Hattin, a steampunk-style fantasy apparently written by a local guy and self-published, and what is essentially a dictionary of 20th Century firearms (though that one is more research...)
Let's see what floats to the top.
-
2014-04-15, 03:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2013
-
2014-04-15, 04:57 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2007
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Hence my interest. It's probably the one I'm looking forward to the most at this point, with the history text behind that.
The name of the one I found is Voices of the Winds by Margot Edmonds & Ella E. Clark. I think there were one or two more, but I've only got so much room in my bag...Last edited by Cristo Meyers; 2014-04-15 at 04:58 PM.
-
2014-04-15, 05:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Tail of the Bellcurve
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
As usual, Austen brings the truth.
It isn't the "gilded version" to look for the stories of women. Women were there. The disabled were there. So were all the other non-priveleged peoples who weren't history's 'winners'. Our stories just never made it to paper, and so were lost. I've spent the four decades of my life hearing and reading and viewing the stories of white male heroes, and now I'm just done with that.
Again, I apologize for any misunderstanding, and any possible offense I have given.Last edited by warty goblin; 2014-04-15 at 09:07 PM.
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.
-
2014-04-15, 07:01 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2013
-
2014-04-15, 07:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
- Location
- Prime Material Plane
- Gender
-
2014-04-15, 07:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
I've been a serious Pratchett fan for years, but I agree the latest books have been disappointing. Snuff was probably the worst in the whole series - it's badly paced, confused, disjointed, contains a disturbingly high proportion of recycled material, and completely derails the character of Sam Vimes. The latest (Raising Steam) is not "bad" in the same way, but it is - boring.
My favourite book is currently To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis. Time travel in romantic comedy is a sadly neglected blend.
A worthwhile recent read was Lloyd Jones's Mister Pip, which I read aloud to my dying mother, though I edited some of the most brutal scenes for her. It has its problems (the black girl's hero worship of the saintly white teacher is a bit - grating, to be honest), but a good update of Dickens nonetheless.
Oh yes, it's a great book. Actually very easy to read, but mind-bendingly hard to understand.
Hofstadter published a - follow-up, I guess is the word - a few years ago called 'I am a Strange Loop', in which he says that almost no-one really understood what he was getting at with GEB, so this time he is much more explicit and direct about (what he now thinks) is the core message. It's - if anything, even more amazing.Last edited by veti; 2014-04-15 at 07:26 PM.
"None of us likes to be hated, none of us likes to be shunned. A natural result of these conditions is, that we consciously or unconsciously pay more attention to tuning our opinions to our neighbor’s pitch and preserving his approval than we do to examining the opinions searchingly and seeing to it that they are right and sound." - Mark Twain
-
2014-04-15, 07:31 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Tail of the Bellcurve
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Bronze Age Military Equipment arrived today! I'm happy, and would be more happy if I wasn't going to spend the evening doing laundry and programming a parametric bootstrap to do prediction intervals for latent random variables*. But I can confirm it does have some really marvelous color photos of reconstructions of bronze age arms and armor, and a complete illustrated version of Nancy Sander's typology of Aegean bronze swords. This will be particularly handy, since I don't have that memorized yet, and am tired of Googling it up every time I need to remember when the Type B appeared. I'm particularly looking forwards to the Appendices specifically focused on Homeric weapons.
Now I'm left wishing I knew of some good books on bronze age life and culture outside of weapons and armor. I mean I love me some weapons and armor, but weaving, woodworking, agriculture, trade, religion etc are all equally fascinating, and even more important to understanding the texture of life three thousand years ago.
Am about a third of the way through Atonement, the second half of my Saoirse Ronan movie inspired reading list. The beginning was a bit slow, but by about page forty it had grabbed on with both hands and won't let go.
*If none of these words mean anything to you, it's a sign you have made wise life choices.Last edited by warty goblin; 2014-04-15 at 07:38 PM.
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.
-
2014-04-15, 09:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
- GI Joe Headquarters
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Oh yeah that sort of bothered me in school. We would read Shakespeare even though his works are supposed to be seen and heard, not read. We read Beowulf, which is supposed to be heard not read. There is a huge difference between some highschooler stumbling over Shakespeare and an actor acting out it out.
Oh I totally agree with you here. I could care less that the writer is using tropes X, Y and Z, as long as I am entertained by the story. I judge a story based entirely on how quickly I devour the story. If I can’t put the book down, it’s a good book. If I can’t stand to read it, it’s not a good book.
-
2014-04-15, 10:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2007
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
It's called Dustball Air by Kenneth M Schuett. The link has the Amazon e-Book, though it looks like you can get your hands on a paperback at B&N.
From what I was told when I got it, the author himself sold a handful of copies to the Half Price Books I got it from. Considering mine appears to actually be signed (amusingly enough), maybe that wasn't total BS...
-
2014-04-16, 05:32 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2011
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
I've heard of I Am a Strange Loop, yep. I'll look into it when I'm done with GEB.
I'm a couple chapters in. It's quite engrossing so far, and I think I'm following most of the logic. My brain hasn't broken yet Reading about this sort of recursive thought is really interesting.Awesome fremetar by wxdruid.
From the discomfort of truth there is only one refuge and that is ignorance. I do not need to be comfortable, and I will not take refuge. I demand to *know*.
So I guess I have an internets? | And a trophy. | And a music cookie (whatever that is).
-
2014-04-16, 04:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Tail of the Bellcurve
- Gender
Re: What Books Are You Reading Right Now?
Read the first 30 odd pages of Bronze Age Military Equipment last night. If the rest of the book is as good as the first bit, this is going to be an absolute gem; it's clear, concise, from what I can tell extremely well researched, and looks in fairly close detail at the shape of warfare over a truly expansive timeline. The portion I read last night focused very heavily on the evolution of the war chariot, and provided a pretty interesting narrative about its decline being tied to the rise of body armor and subsequent devaluation of the bow in favor of the javelin, until the invention of the heavy chariot during classical Antiquity.
Not to mention, the biblography's going to be a godsend, assuming I can lay my grubby little paws on half the people he cites.Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.