What did you just read?

Randin · Aug 28, 2019

The Mongrel Mage by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. Apparently book fucking 19 in the Saga of Recluse. Not a lot to say about this one; if you've read one Modesitt book, you've quite literally read them all. Still, Modesitt remains an author that for some reason I enjoy reading, in spite of having some *glaring* flaws as a writer, such as his inability to break out of the very well worn narrative rut he's made for himself. I think a big part of it is just that I like the Order and Chaos magic system.

But hey, this book does show some growth in his writing. This time around, the protagonist isn't a mage-who's-also-a-craftsman, or a mage-who's-also-a-soldier. Instead, he's a mage who's a craftsman, who later becomes a soldier. Growth!

Zapatta · Sep 6, 2019

Free on Kindle right now. Musashi is the grand dad of dual wielding, he knows whats up.

Amazon product ASIN B07NDLBGT2

Haus · Sep 6, 2019

Due to me recently realizing that Ron Swanson is in the rarified pantheon of fiction character spirit animals who guide me a friend got me this book which is a nice funny and enlightening read :
Amazon product ASIN 0451467094
Then while at the DefCon hacking conference I saw a wonderful panel on the arts of social engineering, which are often also called con-artists.. or salespeople... and it led me to this apparently seminal work on the topic :

Amazon product ASIN 1863501568

Oblio · Sep 11, 2019

Picked up Abercrombie's The Heroes on Audible based on the reviews in this thread. Only a few hours in and love it, I have two road trips for work next week and I am so excited to knock out a big chunk.

Is all his stuff this good?

EDIT: just realized this is Book 2 in the First Law World, does it matter I started with #2?

wamphyr · Sep 12, 2019

Well, the first book is a trilogy. And it is a great great book.
The action in The Heroes is stand-alone somewhat, but there are some characters and scenes that cannot be understood and fully appreciated unless you've read the first trilogy.

Oblio · Sep 12, 2019

wamphyr said:
Well, the first book is a trilogy. And it is a great great book.
The action in The Heroes is stand-alone somewhat, but there are some characters and scenes that cannot be understood and fully appreciated unless you've read the first trilogy.

Thanks, decided to play it safe an picked up The Blade Itself.

Campbell1oo4 · Sep 14, 2019

I would say The Heroes is the best of all his work, but to clarify there is a "loose" order to the books.

Let me explain. He started with a trilogy The Blade Itself, Before they Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings.

Then he wrote some stand-alone novels (set in the same world) that explore the mixing of genres. The Heroes is a war novel. Best Served Cold is a revenge story. Red Country is as close to a western as you get without six-shooters. There was a collection of short stories as well, titled Sharp Ends.

Now, how you view each novel depends on who you are as a person. I have read everything except Best Served Cold because I have not been able to find a copy in my city, and I didn't live in a country with amazon until very recently. But I will tell you, the trilogy was not my favorite. I won't explain why.

My favorite was The Heroes followed by Red Country and then bringing up the rear is Sharp Ends. I am tired of trilogies, but prefer self-contained stories. The Heroes and Red Country fulfill that desire, and are well done.

As for the short stories, I needed more of his world, but I can't recommend them as literature. Only if you are a fan-boy.

This post is all over the place, but I don't get the opportunity to talk about Abercrombie's novels very often. Never met another person who has read them.

Oblio · Sep 14, 2019

Based on what I have listened to so far in Heroes and now The Blade Itself I am hooked. Even if the overall story arc ends up being lack luster he is excellent at character development. These books in audio format are perfect for me with my driving for work. Sometimes I end up driving for 2-3 hours to take 10 pictures when I do work out in the county, these books will make the time fly.

Oblio · Sep 14, 2019

Also, not sure if I mentioned this here or not. We took a family road trip last Spring Break and the Wife and I listened to Fevre Dream by George RR Martin and it was excellent. I am a sucker for just about anything Vampire related so it was an easy sell for me, the Wife has less enthusiasm towards Vampires, but she really liked it too. so if you are an RR far and enjoy his writing style and like Vampires this is definitely worth the read.

Captain Suave · Sep 14, 2019

Zapatta said:
Free on Kindle right now. Musashi is the grand dad of dual wielding, he knows whats up.

Amazon product ASIN B07NDLBGT2

Also one of the world's great pragmatists, and the progenitor of such gems as (paraphrasing), "Always show up late for a duel, because your opponent will be fustrated and make mistakes," and/or "Ambush them on the way to a duel. If they object, they should have been ready."

You don't get to win 60+ fights to the death by giving anything away for free.

khorum · Sep 15, 2019

Oblio said:
Thanks, decided to play it safe an picked up The Blade Itself.

Heroes and The First Law Trilogy (Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings) are great but his most fully realized series is his YA series, The Shattered Sea (Half A King, etc).

It's not as overtly gritty as the first law trilogy, and it's set in a different universe (probably ours) but it's undoubtedly his most disciplined and best-conceived work yet.

Oblio · Sep 15, 2019

khorum said:
Heroes and The First Law Trilogy (Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings) are great but his most fully realized series is his YA series, The Shattered Sea (Half A King, etc).

It's not as overtly gritty as the first law trilogy, and it's set in a different universe (probably ours) but it's undoubtedly his most disciplined and best-conceived work yet.

is that a recommendation? I kinda recoiled at the YA mention. I will be honest I never heard of Abercrombie until a week ago in this thread.

khorum · Sep 15, 2019

Oblio said:
is that a recommendation? I kinda recoiled at the YA mention. I will be honest I never heard of Abercrombie until a week ago in this thread.

Yeah. It's definitely YA---you won't get Bremer barebacking camp whores while fantasizing about courtier's wives, but I wouldn't hesitate saying it's his best-constructed trilogy yet.

You'll forget it's YA after a couple dozen pages.

velk · Sep 15, 2019

khorum said:
Yeah. It's definitely YA---you won't get Bremer barebacking camp whores while fantasizing about courtier's wives, but I wouldn't hesitate saying it's his best-constructed trilogy yet.

You'll forget it's YA after a couple dozen pages.

YA is a pretty wide category these days - 'anything but porn' seems to be the general definition.

Tholan · Sep 20, 2019

Currently reading the Demon Princes serie from Jack Vance.. loved the first two parts, midly enjoyed the 3rd and I have a hard with the last two.

lurkingdirk · Sep 20, 2019

This was a really interesting narrative history of champagne. Pretty great!

Campbell1oo4 · Sep 21, 2019

Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger

Never read it in school, but I bought it yesterday, and finished it this morning. Holy shit, I loved this book. It was as if someone wrote a book about me when I was a teenager. Would recommend to anyone who was a very angry/confused teenager.

Zapatta · Sep 21, 2019

Campbell1oo4 said:
Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger

Never read it in school, but I bought it yesterday, and finished it this morning. Holy shit, I loved this book. It was as if someone wrote a book about me when I was a teenager. Would recommend to anyone who was a very angry/confused teenager.

If you are gonna read classics, things in as similar vein to pick up would be Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf and Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. I think every novelist / poet wishes they could write prose like Miller. Both are very vivid books like Catcher.

Edit - Heese's Siddhartha is also worth reading if you wanna get into existentialism / buddhism.

sleevedraw · Sep 26, 2019

Fiction:

Adebisi · Sep 27, 2019

Blood Meridian

All I can say is... Yeeeeeesh

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