Think I'm going to read some YA and other easy stuff this month, to balance out the giant Rand tome.
Hmm been seeing a lot of love for this Replay book lately. Might have to give it a go when I finish Second Foundation.
My reading stalled out a bit towards the end of January, so I figure going back to Abercrombie will get me going again. He has yet to let me down.
I had to close the book after reading first sentence of the epilogue though.Sadly it suffers terribly from the female author syndrome where every female character has to have a white wedding and dump out a couple of kids. Obviously this is the only way a female can lead a fulfilling adult life. I guess she had to do her part to brainwash the female teen readership. Do your part for society bitches... you even get one day to dress up like a princess and become the center of attention for five minutes before getting fat, hating your husband and enjoying a life of servitude. Generic happy endings ftw.
Katniss would have been a complete headcase after going through what she had. Suicide or drug dependency would have been a more realistic conclusion. I wish that authors would end things in a plausible manner or just leave off generic epilogues all together.
I'm big into non-fiction books and have been looking around for a book about George mason. Are there any books about him that GAF recommends?
On tap next, I have:
It's daunting, but I've heard the accolades around here and I'm ready to give it a go. I've read a few pages and the style looks engaging without being esoteric, so I'm excited.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1479387401/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Havent read it, but this one seems interesting and readable
Finished
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16477550-prism?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book
Prism: Shadow of the Fates by Thomas Trask
Was pretty damn good actually. Enjoyed it.
Starting
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10198374-outpost?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book
Outpost by Adam Baker
Its been a long while since I read the books, but I don't remember interpreting it like that at all. Katniss was pretty fucked up if I recall and the ending wasn't all roses and white weddings, (did they ever even get married?) I think it took her something like 20 years to even agree to have kids because she was so fucked up. You're reaching and over-analyzing in my opinion and projecting your own views into it.
Decided to start Hyperion
Both of these sound really damn cool.
Oh I'm absolutely doing that. I only read a single sentence of the epilogue, sensed an unnecessary Hollywood style generic ending and closed the book at that point. It's not really my style. The rest of the story was genuinely great though.
Fair enough. I'd read the rest of it tho, you might be surprised.
She continued to smile, but the expression, like her laughter, seemed a part of some other, slower language, where everything he understood meant something else. She said, But you had a room together, later, when you lived in New York. You would play music together, and nothing is closer than that. You see, I am jealous of anyone who was before me, like God. I can be jealous of his mother and his father sometimes.
Yep, my wife hated the ending. She said everyone ends up with PTSD.
Re-reading this for like the third time or so; think I'm going to make it a yearly thing from here on out. Never read a other book that truly inspires me to push on further in the current direction I'm taking my life, so poignant, touching and genuine.. sogood.gif. I still can't hold back the tears in my reading of certain sections in the novel.
@Mumei - You definitely need to put this at the top of your reading list!
I read the first volume last night. :3
This actually fits the conceit that the books were authored by the main character (an unreliable narrator) and merely translated by Gene Wolf. Read all four parts of The Book of the New Sun and then be sure to check out the sequel, The Urth of the New Sun. It's the best payoff I've ever experienced for a fictional series.I had a similar reaction to Shadow of the Torturer. Ultimately I decided that Wolfe is the kind of writer who has a little too much fun toying with his readers and playing little games for his own amusement. He wants to hide information from the reader and make his world as impenetrable as possible. I found the book a little self indulgent. Still, there are things I really liked about it, and I may pick up the series again eventually.
This actually fits the conceit that the books were authored by the main character (an unreliable narrator) and merely translated by Gene Wolf. Read all four parts of The Book of the New Sun and then be sure to check out the sequel, The Urth of the New Sun. It's the best payoff I've ever experienced for a fictional series.
Really wanted to get my Sci-Fi on.
Yes, definitely. Wolfe might seem like he's dicking you around sometimes, but he actually gives you all the information you need to understand the plot. You don't need to get everything, and you'll definitely feel clever when you figure something out, even if it is something that is ultimately more obvious (e.g. the religious symbolism of Terminus Est being a cross)
Going on to Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson and hope it's as good as a lot of people say.
How far into this are you? It always seemed interesting to me but I see criticism (perhaps from these threads) that its very boring at times.
Currently reading:
I'm just a bit into book 3 - really liking it so far. Anyone has more Arthurian novels to recommend? I have The Mists of Avalon but it sounds like it's very Morgan-centric.
I'm about halfway into the the book which is the second of the trilogy. I can understand the criticism that it is quite dull at times, but that doesn't bother me too much because I find the setting and the story itself to be quite fascinating.
The book deals with some really cool sci-fi concepts which fascinate me and make me far more interested than I once was in out Solar System and Mars in particular. If you can put up with some dry overly scientific segments from time to time it might be a good book to try.