Books discussion

[HomerJ]

Also, I can't recommend the Penguin Classics (unabridged) version of The Count of Monte Cristo enough. There are tons of footnotes explaining the various references that modern readers (especially non-French modern readers).

I would like to second that Penguin Classics is just awesome in any case.


Greetz
HomerJ

[Gambit]

Is it just me or is Speaker for the Dead at least as good as Ender's Game? How come no one talks about Speaker?

Also, is the rest of the series good? I read some of the bean line after Ender's Shadow and it was so bad it turned me off of both series for a while.

Speaker is actually my favorite from the Ender Series, but IMO Bean's series was far better.

[Qazerowl]

I LOVE the Ender books, I've read like all 8 of them, or some number is like that.

[Cloud]

I've just finished The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (book 1 of the Mistborn trilogy). I have to admit I was pretty impressed by it, especially the magic "system" it uses, it's one I've never seen or really though about before and is a very nice concept.

I should also be getting The Ghosts of Ascalon by Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb sometime soon, it's the first book that's based on a game (Guild Wars) so I don't exactly know what to expect; I've got high hopes of it because I loved the game.

[thespaceinvader]

Why the "s round 'system'? You're not meant to have come across it before, it's one he devised himself. There's a lot more to it than is explained in the first book.

[Eleazar]

Is it just me or is Speaker for the Dead at least as good as Ender's Game? How come no one talks about Speaker?

Also, is the rest of the series good? I read some of the bean line after Ender's Shadow and it was so bad it turned me off of both series for a while.

The thing that makes the whole Ender-verse kinda tricky is that the different branches have rather different kinds of stories, The Bean series is more tactical, down-to earth military adventure, While the line that follows Ender is more philosophical, conceptual sci-fi. Ender's Game itself probably sit half-way between the two extremes.

Yeah, i think i liked Speaker for the Dead even more than Ender's Game. If you liked Speaker, you'll probably have a similar opinion of "Xenocide". Children of the Mind, i liked at first, but it got so outlandish, that it more or less "Jumped the Shark" for me.

I didn't have high hopes for the "Bean" branch, since it seems to be a cheap way to capitalize on the success of Ender's Game-- but it exceeded my expectations. IMHO the Bean branch improves from there, and becomes a pretty satisfying series though one quite different from the "Speaker" branch.

I haven't read the last 2 recently written books.

[Moribund]

Yeah it was shocking how different Speaker was, and it took a little readjusting to realize its brilliance. Ender's Game will of course always hold a special place in my heart, the way it really portrays being a child accurately, like no other book. Particularly the fact that the children are all gifted really connects with me.

I'll certainly give Xenocide a try- I've just been wary of Card. He has a habit of making brilliant series and then ruining them horribly somewhere along the line with no forewarning. No gentle decline or anything, just brilliance brilliance brilliance failure. His Home series was amazing- until the fifth book where all the main characters were dead and suddenly the world is populated by furries. Same with Alvin Maker which had as much action AND philosophy as Ender's Game while adding the spirituality present in Songmaster- until the fifth book where it became like the beginning of a bad RPG where you go and fetch stuff.

I've just finished Savage Empire by Jean Lorrah- it was pretty good. Very comfortable, kinda Heinlein-y oldschool. Some nice concepts but not really really amazing anywhere. I've just started the Sime/Gen series by Jaqueline Lichtenburg and so far it's pretty good, seems to be similar to Savage Empire.

[Major]

I've just been reading Blind Faith, by Ben Elton.
It's a really weird but satisfying book about the consumer society taken to the limit, where your life it posted up on the 'net, every last thing about you is known, it is the law to feel good about yourself and privacy is a perversion.
A very indepth look at a not so far off modern society. A good read, I''d recommend it to anyone interested in Sci Fi/Comedy/Fantasy.

[thespaceinvader]

Blind Faith is a very, very good, and very, very scary book.

[Eleazar]

I've just been wary of Card. He has a habit of making brilliant series and then ruining them horribly somewhere along the line with no forewarning. No gentle decline or anything, just brilliance brilliance brilliance failure. His Home series was amazing- until the fifth book where all the main characters were dead and suddenly the world is populated by furries. Same with Alvin Maker which had as much action AND philosophy as Ender's Game while adding the spirituality present in Songmaster- until the fifth book where it became like the beginning of a bad RPG where you go and fetch stuff.

I dunno, i thought the Alvin Maker series gradually lost direction over a few books.

But Card is an unusual writer. There's no other single writer who turns out books that are so near the top of my scale, and writes other books that i consider to be a waste of paper. And of course there's a lot in the middle since he has written so many books. I never know what to expect when opening one of his books.

[Rigor]

i just finished the xenophobe's guide to sweden http://www.amazon.com/Xenophobes-Guide- ... 47&sr=8-12 it was a short read, but i expected just that for the flight back home and worth the 50 kronor i had to invest here. i found the humour very good and i think i might buy another one of xenophobe's books sometime in the future.

now while i was away my gf started reading the second part of the mistborn trilogy, finishing part 1 in an incredible less-than-5-days-faster-than-light-speed-reading-session - that made her about 4 times faster than myself. i must say, im impressed. and i want my book back. after ive finished crusoe. and (richard) sharpe's tiger http://www.amazon.com/Sharpes-Tiger-ebo ... 988&sr=8-3 .

[Moribund]

That's interesting. It seems there's diverging opinions on the Maker series. I asked someone else and they said they thought Red Prophet wasn't very good (though they loved the first one).

For me the closest would be Alan Dean Foster. He is not as "good" of a writer, per se, but he is strong in characterization. Spellsinger (the first 3) were quite good, but Son of Spellsinger was just embarassing. In fact I am embarassed to admit I own it.

Someone who I find that equals Card in brilliance but does not make crap books is Dan Simmons. I know he writes some horror books but I am talking solely about his Scifi. Hyperion and Illium are both amazing series. Has anyone read those?

[Gambit]

I am currently reading The Old Republic. It is total crap. I have never read a Star Wars book this bad. It's based on that new mumorpiga that BioWare is making, so I should have known better.

But Sean Williams did such a good job with adapting the PoS that was Force Unleashed into book form that I guess I just figured he could likewise save The Old Republic. I mean the game was so bad, but the book was so good. But no. In The Old Republic's case it looks like the story is just going to be crap no matter how you tell it.

[sur.nhm]

I am currently reading The Old Republic. It is total crap. I have never read a Star Wars book this bad. It's based on that new mumorpiga that BioWare is making, so I should have known better.

But Sean Williams did such a good job with adapting the PoS that was Force Unleashed into book form that I guess I just figured he could likewise save The Old Republic. I mean the game was so bad, but the book was so good. But no. In The Old Republic's case it looks like the story is just going to be crap no matter how you tell it.

I don't know about the books, but I used to play TFU (but then my PS3 got broken ) and IMHO it's a good game. Doesn't equal EaW though.
On-topic, I am now reading the starlight and shadows series by Elaine Cunningham. It's pretty good; it's like RA Salvatore without his "No-my-charcaters-cannot-die" catch.

[Midnight_Carnival]

Shades of Sheol by Philip S. Johnston.

It was reccomended to my by my master necro -ahem! -um by my study superviosr as it contians many insights into death and the aferlife in the ancient near-east he feels would greatly benifit me in my studies of necromancy and the dark arts.