What did you just read?

Szlia_sl said:

I finished the Lies of Locke Lamora the other day, the first book of the Gentlemen Bastards by Scott Lynch. I found it easy to read and entertaining, but I must confess I was a little underwhelmed by it. That might be because I saw beforehand the enthusiasm of some of the posters here and also because the guy I borrowed it from compared it with a book that is much better: 'Gagner la guerre' (To Win The War - only available in french at the moment) by Jean-Philippe Jaworski.

Even if it found a use in the plot in the end, I did not enjoy particularly the 'strange old ruins on top of Venice' setting, I found the book introduced a number of characters that, when all is said and done, were barely used and I also deplore that the main antagonists went from 'frustratingly untouchable and omniscient' directly to 'dealt with in a single scene each in direct confrontation and without planning'.

Still enjoyed it though and might very well read the 2nd book.

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I think Gentlemen Bastards only gets better.

I think the first book was the best one. The city is a great character itself. The caper is carefree and lets the characters really let loose. If you didn't love the first book you are wrong and a doodyhead and you're not invited to my birthday party. And it's cowboy themed so now you really feel like a dick I bet. Blew that one.

Grimmlokk_sl said:

I think the first book was the best one. The city is a great character itself. The caper is carefree and lets the characters really let loose.

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I wish Lynch had managed to bring the city of mages to life like he did Carmorr.

velk_sl said:

The first book is one the weaker ones, pretty tolkien derivative etc. The second is one of the better ones, and fourth is probably my favorite. Unfortunately there's a depressing decline in the middle ;p

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I finished book 2, The Great Hunt. The pacing was better than book 1, but it's really... I don't know. Something is bothering me about this series now.

It's a story about beautiful people fucking dragons in between killing each other. No, that's ASoIaF. This is beautiful people fucking each other between killing dragons. That's what I meant to say.

I still really dig fantasy, but the conceit is... boring? Cliche? I don't know. I can see how the series would be interesting and the setting and characters are awesome. But this isn't doing much for me. I'll give it another two books to see if things pick up.

Himeo_sl said:

I finished book 2, The Great Hunt. The pacing was better than book 1, but it's really... I don't know. Something is bothering me about this series now.

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The quality drops off quite a bit after book 2 in WoT; the things he does wrong with his characters only become more pronounced as the story goes on. Some books are better than others but I felt that he never recaptured the momentum he had in the first two books and instead went forward dragging his feet deliberately to extend things. At its bones it's still a good story but much of the dialogue and descriptive exposition that you are frequently forced to wade through were a real drag at times.

Himeo_sl said:

It's a story about beautiful people fucking dragons in between killing each other. No, that's ASoIaF. This is beautiful people fucking each other between killing dragons. That's what I meant to say.

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What?

You're talking about books that are almost 25 years old and influenced probably half of the current crop of writers working in the genre. Wouldn't expect much freshness from them.

Just finishedLa vie mode d'emploi (Life: A User's Manual)a classic by french author Georges Perec published in 1978. (goodreads link)

The basic idea of the novel is to take a fictional parisian building, remove the facade and write a chapter about each room you see, with each character, painting, piece of furniture or situation being potentially turned into a spring board for digressions of all shapes, forms and styles. Suddenly, that single building and the 40ish people who live in it are shown as connected to the whole world and its history over centuries, a kind of ode to the complexity and richness of even the most mundane reality (though there is nothing mundane about most of the characters!). At the same time, the book contains about a hundred different stories, more than a thousand characters and summons dozens of literary forms (the general tone though is one of detached irony).

This is a decidedly strange and singular book, undoubtedly a masterpiece that manages to surprise the whole way through. It is also a little frustrating, because some of the main substories end up being not as complex as initially hoped and have a somewhat underwhelming conclusion. Some are brilliant though, like the brutal and poignant letter of Cyrille Altamont to his estranged wife.

Disclaimer: the book is packed with descriptions and lists and you have to accept that most of its content does not advance any kind of plot, but is there to spin a web or to become stylistic exercises that border on abstract poetry (the most extreme case being several pages of a tool catalog!).

Just started The Dragon Path (Dagger and Coin series), so far it seems pretty good but I do hope it picks up some soon.

Amazon.com: The Dragons Path (The Dagger and Coin) eBook: Daniel Abraham: Kindle Store

+ 1 for The Martian. At times the book felt like if Dresden were an astronaut this is what it would read like. Finished it in 2 nights and my eyes are still recuperating. Will probably read it again in a few months.

Vvoid_sl said:

I am almost certain that someone else mentioned it here or in another thread recently, but I just finished The Martian the other day, and it was awesome. Not only was it engaging from page 1, but it presented the science in a manner that I was easily able to follow. More importantly though, it was just flat out funny at times. I don't laugh out loud very often when reading books, but several times during this one I did. Cannot recommend this book enough.

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I loved this book. It reads like a combo of Heinlein, Brin, and Modessit to me(maybe a dab of McDevitt). I laughed out loud a few times at the snarky main character...Definitely some Butcher-esque humour. It reminded me in some ways of the "Cross-time Engineer" series that I read as a kid.

EDIT:

Some science background is useful for this book, but not required.

Just finishedDialogue with Death: A Journey Through Consciousness: Eknath Easwaran: 9780915132720: Amazon.com: Books

Also has been re-released asEssence of the Upanishadswhich isn't much help describing to it Westerners either.

If I had to title it I'd call itEastern Philosophy 101 for Western Dummies.

The initial idea of it is, if you could actually hold a conversation with Death, personified, what advice would he give you?

Published in 1981 it seems to me (and maybe someone will correct me) that the different ways that people form thoughts and consciousness and act or don't act upon them and all the myriad ways our own consciousness plays tricks on us or how it can sort of 'speak' to us in various ways has all been given labels and names by the 'East' or more specifically, in this case, the Indians.

I compared it to when I learned cooking. The chef explains almost from the outset that, yes, many terms used in cooking are in fact French terms. Why? Because it was the French who actually sat down and gave shit names. They didn't necessarily invent many of these things, they just named things that were already there. Have people been setting up all of their ingredients and tools before they begin to cook for years and centuries before the French even existed? You bet they have. Was there a name for this practice before the French entitled it mise en place? Nope.

Same thing here. Have people been repeating similar thoughts to themselves, almost without noticing it, and then acting on those thoughts again and again almost without noticing it? For centuries before the Indians even existed? Yep. Was there a term for this phenomenon before the Indians called it a samskara? Nope.

Many other terms and conditions are labeled quite nicely and succinctly. Most of the book deals with analogies to old Buddhist and Hindu myths but isn't inherently religious or 'magical' in any way. He is simply using those old fables to describe real things. He lost me in the last few pages when he said something along the lines of 'the modern theory of evolution allows for spiritual reincarnation' and then leaves that line as is without further explanation. Um, yeah, no. In any case everything else before that is quality thinking and worth reading if not for your own 'enlightenment' then maybe to be able to know what some eastern people might be talking about from time to time. At the very least, he provides some decent food for thought. I would recommend it to, well, anyone raised in the 'West'.

Just read The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend, the prequel of David Gemmell's Legend. The strength of Legend resided in the fact it was the story of a hero well past his prime, a last hurrah of sorts. Chronicles is least interesting as it deals with the youth of the hero, who is instantly all-powerful and the straightest of arrows (even if his romantic quest of love - trying to find his kidnapped wife - is also motivated by the fact she helps him fight his inner demons). Still, it's a very easy and enjoyable read as the story moves forward at a steady pace, with action, comedy and manly men doing manly things.

I am trying to readJonathan Strange and Mr. Norrellbut I can't seem to get in to it. When I pick it up I enjoy the writing, but the actual story doesn't seem to matter and it's making it hard to care about anything that is happening. Only like 250 pages in, and you can see where some of it is starting to point at a bigger picture and how it will tie together, but it's all just an excuse for some clever prose so far. Whenever I have a chance to sit and read it I find myself deciding to do other shit.

I've never struggled so hard to read a book that I actually enjoy. It's bizarre. I'll finish it eventually, but at my current rate of about 100 pages a week that might take a very long time.

Szlia_sl said:

Just read The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend, the prequel of David Gemmell's Legend. The strength of Legend resided in the fact it was the story of a hero well past his prime, a last hurrah of sorts. Chronicles is least interesting as it deals with the youth of the hero, who is instantly all-powerful and the straightest of arrows (even if his romantic quest of love - trying to find his kidnapped wife - is also motivated by the fact she helps him fight his inner demons). Still, it's a very easy and enjoyable read as the story moves forward at a steady pace, with action, comedy and manly men doing manly things.

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Legend is one of my five or six favorite stories ever. I found the Chronicles underwhelming, and that's coming from a huge Gemmell fan who has read everything he ever wrote. Legend needs to be a fucking movie.

Also, to add to The Martian praise, I just finished it last night. What a great book. That needs to be a movie too. I can't think of who I would cast to play the lead though.

Just read Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy and 2 of the 3 standalones after (halfway through the 3rd now). Got sick of fricking D3 and went on a reading binge this past week.

Really enjoyed them; great characters and a neatly told story. Thought one or two of his characters kind of went off the rails and acted a bit oddly, though I loved his style of jumping from viewpoint to viewpoint while writing battles/fight scenes.