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Velensk
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Velensk »

For what it's worth I wasn't too impressed by the Wheel of Time. Then again I didn't get too far into it because I wasn't being very impressed/having much fun and I knew the series reputation for longevity. The author will continually introduce new viewpoint characters and then come back to them and after you get several dozen (most of which I only vaguely remember) it slows down the actual flow of the story (and again I never got too deep so it will likely get worse as you keep going).

To be on topic, I most recently read the first book in the Annuls of Drakis by Tracy Hickman. The 'kill everyone who you won't need later' element common to his work is definitely present. I had fun anyway.

I don't bother to list most of the books I've read here. Among other things I don't see much point. I'm very much aware the extent to which tastes differ. Many people have on this thread enthused over books that I dislike and I find it vaguely annoying. It's not something that is generally worth debating about as you cannot convince someone to not like something (and if you actually do what does it profit you or them), about the best you can do is offer a second view on a book for someone who is actually trying to read this thread for recommendations. In my experience it is always better to get recommendations from those who know you well and tailor their suggestions to you than off the praise of strangers as almost anything published traditionally will be something that someone will really like (very hard to get through a publishing house otherwise) and thus you can almost always find someone to recommend anything. Then if you're like me, even being generally popular or popular in a specific field' is not a good indicator.
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Stormerdave
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Stormerdave »

I've read most of the Wheel of time series, except the last 3, which are being finished by a different author using the original authors (Robert Jordan) notes. I enjoyed the books, but the storyline jumps around a bit, and might not make sense. but after i read some of the books again i was able to understand it a lot better. I liked the series and now i gotta find the last 3 and wait for the final one to actually come out...

anyway I just finished reading The chronicles of ancient darkness series, by Michelle Pavlar (or something like that). set in the stone age about a boy who has to save all the clans and defeat the soul eaters. Oh and he can talk to wolves and later ravens. wish i could do that.... wish we had ravens and wolves down here :/ ha ok maybe not!
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by thespaceinvader »

NB: If I say nothing else about the Wheel of Time (so far, so good, but I'm only about 25% of the way through the first book), the last few books WILL be worth reading, without a doubt. Brandon Sanderson 9the fill-in author) is probably the best fantasy author I've ever come across - only Patrick Rothfuss comes close, and he's nowhere near as prolific, so it's difficult to judge. He could make anything good.
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Hulavuta
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Hulavuta »

So...I'm trying to decide whether to read Starship Troopers or Catch 22 first.
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Velensk
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Velensk »

Reading those back to back should be somewhat interesting. Starship troopers is definitely funner so you might want to read it last.

To be on topic: I'm reading 'The Conquering Sword of Conan'. After reading some of the original stories I can see how Conan was strong enough to create a cliche rather than just being cliche (though he most certainly is). I think maybe I should come back and read it when I'm in a different mood as it is rather fun stuff and well written but not at all what I'm looking for.
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Gambit »

Waiting for my library to get in Vortex. :(
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Myrien »

Jean-Paul Sartre - Iron in the Soul
After reading some of his philosophical essays, I thought I'd give this a go, and was positively surprised - an interesting and well-written book. I'll happily finish this and read more by the author.

Cornelia Funke - Reckless.
The reason why I'm reading this is because my little sister seemed more interested in her other Christmas presents and because I used to love reading some of Funke's books. For what I've read so far, her other stuff was mostly better (e.g. Inkheart), but that doesn't make it bad. The concept and storyline I had heard before reading sounded good, the way it was put into writing could've been better. Still, it's worth giving a try, and I would not have regretted buying it myself.
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Rigor
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Rigor »

Velensk wrote: I don't bother to list most of the books I've read here. Among other things I don't see much point. I'm very much aware the extent to which tastes differ. Many people have on this thread enthused over books that I dislike and I find it vaguely annoying. It's not something that is generally worth debating about as you cannot convince someone to not like something (and if you actually do what does it profit you or them), about the best you can do is offer a second view on a book for someone who is actually trying to read this thread for recommendations. In my experience it is always better to get recommendations from those who know you well and tailor their suggestions to you than off the praise of strangers as almost anything published traditionally will be something that someone will really like (very hard to get through a publishing house otherwise) and thus you can almost always find someone to recommend anything. Then if you're like me, even being generally popular or popular in a specific field' is not a good indicator.
i have read that some time ago and i thought id let others respond to it first, but since nobody wants to speak up ill do it.

yes of course it pays off to listen to friends who know your specific taste in books but sometimes its just nice to see that other people you know only by avatar have sometimes extremely good ideas and suggestions, things you and nobody else u know have never thought before. in fact, i also dont like some books mentioned in this threat, BUT i still find very good titles just because im curious enough to type them into amazon (or check the LINK) and then from time to time i find jewels.

such as

the mistborn trilogy
freakonomics
the hunger games trilogy
the god delusion

coming into my mind.

Image
Figure: Ghenghis 1

one of the funny things is, i mean, this is a wesnoth forum with emphasis on fantasy-fiction and still im often surprised to find different books here as well. i like this place because it has a certain character. i ordered some books since november and read a few of them too but for now ill have to tell u about this one: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World http://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Khan-Maki ... 548&sr=8-1 .

Image
Figure: Ghenghis 2

absolutely highly recommendable, very accurate, very interesting book about...us. no seriously, we all learned history the wrong way, its absolutely not true, how the mongols were depicted all the time. bringing religious freedom equality of the women and a lot of new technology into our narrow minded cold lands together with the biggest exchange program of medics artists and scholars gave our nations the required boost to find their way out of the dark ages. super good book, seriously. for christmas i pre-ordered The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire http://www.amazon.com/Secret-History-Mo ... 417&sr=1-1 .
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thespaceinvader
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by thespaceinvader »

Currently reading Anathem by Neal Stephenson - extremely evocative, but I'm not entirely sure where it's going as yet.

Also on the list: The Desert Spear by Peter Brett, various other books I got for christmas. Recently finished: Wicked, very good, well characterised, but kind of light on plot. The Dwarves, Markus Heitz - very good, solid epic fantasy. Well written, well characterised, tightly plotted, didn't rely on cliche to substitute for world and character building. A hearty recommendation from me all round.
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TheDreamer
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by TheDreamer »

"The Universe In A Nutshell", by Stephen Hawking, for space-nerds like myself. :lol2:

Very interesting book, so far
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hhyloc
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by hhyloc »

TheDreamer wrote:"The Universe In A Nutshell", by Stephen Hawking, for space-nerds like myself. :lol2:

Very interesting book, so far
Oh, I read that book too, easy to understand and interesting indeed. I also recommend "A Brief History of Time", a book from the same author, although this book is a bit more complex.
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TheDreamer
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by TheDreamer »

hhyloc wrote:
TheDreamer wrote:"The Universe In A Nutshell", by Stephen Hawking, for space-nerds like myself. :lol2:

Very interesting book, so far
Oh, I read that book too, easy to understand and interesting indeed. I also recommend "A Brief History of Time", a book from the same author, although this book is a bit more complex.
Gotta look for it ;)
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Telaron
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Telaron »

Currently reading a series I got for Christmas by Robert Jordan called 'The Wheel of Time.' Pretty good so far. It seems to be fairly original unlike a lot of fantasy books written nowadays.
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Suira »

Hulavuta wrote:So...I'm trying to decide whether to read Starship Troopers or Catch 22 first.
You probably decided already, but Catch 22 is truly one of the most awesome and brilliant books ever written. Made me actually laugh out loud several times when reading (which is something even Pratchett can't accomplish).

Didn't read starship troopers though.

Next book I'll read: either "Surely you're joking Mr Feynmann" or "Foucault"s Pendulum".

edit:
"The Universe In A Nutshell", by Stephen Hawking, for space-nerds like myself. :lol2:

Very interesting book, so far
For scientific books, I recommend "A short history of nearly everything". The crazy annecdotes make the book worthwhile.
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Rigor
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Rigor »

maybe u eh explain a little why catch 22 is so great ? thx in advance lol
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