Author Topic: What are you reading, part 3  (Read 311351 times)

Shaggy

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #585 on: March 13, 2009, 12:20:48 AM »
OK, found the rhyme (I wasn't looking so far back before). And the Star Wars reference…was that the "These are not the books you are looking for. Move along."

No offense taken.
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #586 on: March 13, 2009, 06:03:48 PM »
Yes, that's right.
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little wilson

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #587 on: March 14, 2009, 07:15:55 AM »
I love the Star Wars reference....Of course, I love any and all Star Wars references because Star Wars is just fantastic.

Anyway. Terry Goodkind....He's very dark. Very, very dark. But I liked him...Granted, I have yet to finish the series, but what I did read, I liked. And I loved Wizards First Rule. I also love the rule. "People are stupid." It makes me happy, for some reason....I'm not sure why.

And mocking books you haven't read. I find that the best way to truly mock a book is to read it yourself, because then you have the knowledge of EXACTLY what to mock. And the people who like the books can't get on your case with saying "You don't know what you're talking about, because you've never read it. I'm sure if you read it, you'd like it."....This is why in some regards, I'm happy I've read Twilight....

Now, for on topic. Does Schlock Mercenary count? Cuz that's what I'm reading...Or was. I just got all caught up yesterday. I feel happy. Yet sad at the same time, because now I can't read 9 months worth of strips a day...
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Bookstore Guy

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #588 on: March 16, 2009, 03:49:48 AM »
I agree about commenting on books you have read. It makes things more interesting because you can give examples. It's like when people used to tell me they wouldn't read anything but Brandon Sanderson or Robert Jordan because nothing else would compare. Really? Seems kinda hard to know that...and that's just silly.

Having read Goodkind, I don't think he's dark at all. More like imitation dark. He does the same thing every book, and most of his rape and violence serves no purpose. To me, that's not dark. That's just filler.

If you enjoy really dark stuff, read R Scott Bakker. I plan to now that I finished Last Arguement of Kings. It was good. A little abrupt at the end, but good.
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Comfortable Madness

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #589 on: March 16, 2009, 01:38:17 PM »
I have heard a ton of good things about Bakker. What book would you recommend for someone unfamiliar with his work?
« Last Edit: March 16, 2009, 01:41:04 PM by Comfortable Madness »
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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #590 on: March 17, 2009, 04:55:59 PM »
The first book is The Darkness that Comes Before. Once again, disclaimer: Very dark. If you are offended by sex, language, and violence, i suggest you stay away. The first book is slow paced with lots of psychology and politics. the following 2 books lead into more action. the 4th book i have yet to read.
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CthulhuKefka

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #591 on: March 18, 2009, 03:39:02 AM »
I'm currently reading "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding" by David Hume. It's good stuff.  :)

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #592 on: March 18, 2009, 03:57:01 AM »
From a review of one of Joe Abercrombie's books on here, I wasn't sure if it was for me, but reading his blog has interested me greatly. His series just might be what I pick up next!
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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #593 on: March 18, 2009, 03:55:11 PM »
Abercrombie feels very much a mix of Erikson and Lynch. I enjoyed him a lot. It's not quite as grim or dark as people make it out to be. I personally thought the 2nd novel was the best, but they were all well done. Much better than the cliched garbage floating around currently...
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kevinpii

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #594 on: March 18, 2009, 05:23:36 PM »
Since i haven't posted here in a while I'll put the books that i have recently read.
1. enders game by Orson Scott Card. which i loved.
2. Speaker for the dead. also Orson Scott card. which i loved even more.
3. The crown conspiracy. by Michael J. Sullivan. It was kind of a light easy read. He didn't stray too far from the stereotype of certain races. The main characters were kind of cliche but it was written well enough that it didn't take too much from the story. All in all it wasn't too bad for a new author, I'll probably read the sequel when it comes out.
4. I just started xenocide this morning so i will have to see how that goes.

readerMom

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #595 on: March 19, 2009, 02:11:59 AM »
I've started the Death Gate cycle by Weis & Hickman.  I read the first 4 when they came out and never finished up the series.  It is funny the stuff you remember after 10 years. I can never remember the endings, but a few quirky scenes stick in my memory with nothing to connect them to.

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #596 on: March 19, 2009, 07:49:14 PM »
A friend lent me Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks. My friend raved about the series for several months before I let him lend me a book. Maybe it's because of that that I haven't enjoyed the book at all, but I really can't get into it. It feels just like LoTR, only the hobbits are humans and the elves have been nerfed.

So, my questions are: Am I crazy? Am I reading the wrong Terry Brooks book? I've heard quite a bit of good buzz about Terry Brooks, but I am finding his writing excruciating. What is the deal?

  • Characters don't feel like they are different people. Everyone has the same vocabulary, thought patterns, facial expressions, etc. It's a world inside someone's head put on paper, but I shouldn't feel like every character is the author with different makeup on. It's like watching an Eddie Murphy film.
  • The descriptions are so overdone, sometimes I feel like I'm reading Fitzgerald*. Some people know how to make their prose flow and evoke emotion like poetry. Some people do not.
  • Again, the feeling of sameness with Tolkien. I'm not a huge fan of Tolkien's writing, but he did know how to create a believable world through sheer depth. With Brooks I feel like I'm watching nothing more than a middle school theater production of LoTR. I know that "tree" is a stack of chairs with brown paper towels from the bathroom taped on it.

I certainly have gotten more picky since 6th grade. I reread Zelazny's Amber series recently and didn't like it as much as this time around, though it still ranks somewhere in my top 10. Probably.

*Fitzgerald's writing isn't horrible. I just can't imagine anyone reading it when they could be reading Faulkner or Hemingway. :P
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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #597 on: March 19, 2009, 08:02:08 PM »
Terry Brooks' stuff is very Tolkien in nature. It was great when I was in Jr. High, but not so much now. I respect Brooks for getting people to read, but I don't read his books anymore. He is very much in the old style of fantasy. So no, you are not crazy. The Elfstones of Shannara is book2 of the initial trilogy, and it is the best of all of Brooks' novels by far, but it is still very cliche in our current era of the genre.
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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #598 on: March 19, 2009, 08:41:20 PM »
Quote
Fitzgerald's writing isn't horrible. I just can't imagine anyone reading it when they could be reading Faulkner or Hemingway.
Fitzgerald…the guy who wrote The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Button? Yeah, just so you know…not everybody reads books just 'cause they were written by a big name. And furthermore, not everyone has the same taste in books; certain authors have become big names because they are liked by the general people–that in no way means that everyone likes them.
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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #599 on: March 19, 2009, 11:07:09 PM »
Fitzgerald…the guy who wrote The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Button? Yeah, just so you know…not everybody reads books just 'cause they were written by a big name. And furthermore, not everyone has the same taste in books; certain authors have become big names because they are liked by the general people–that in no way means that everyone likes them.

Yeah, he's the guy who wrote Benjamin Button, though The Great Gatsby is his most famous work. And everyone reading big names? Kinda impossible to dodge reading some Fitzgerald unless you get very lucky and/or drop out of high school. If you are unlucky like me, you will be forced to read Gatsby no less than three times in high school English courses. I try to conceal my dislike for Fitzgerald for the most part, seeing as how I'm an English major and still have teachers who idolize him that I need to not piss off. Like my adviser. :P

(IMO) It's healthy to have read Fitzgerald, though not necessarily healthy to read Fitzgerald.

Now on to the next book in my stack.... Shall it be Dune, Ender's Game, or the Dark Elf Trilogy? (Yes, I have somehow survived without reading any of those three. I am insane.)
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