What are you reading now?

[Fader209]

Vernor Vinge - Zones of Thought. It's a two book compilation of "A fire upon the deep" and "A deepness in the sky".

I'm about 1/3 of the way through "A fire upon the deep" and it's mind bogglingly good. Packed with great ideas that were way ahead of its time and an overarching view of the galaxy as "zoned" areas where technology can only reach a certain level for reasons unknown.

Anyone who likes epic sci-fi should enjoy this.

I will add this to my list of books to read as I'm always on the look out for different sci-fi.
Haven't read an awful lot of horror so I have been researching what to buy in that genre and was thinking some Stephen King as from what I have heard is that the books are a lot better than the film conversions. Specifically I was thinking of getting Christine (as I love the movie anyway), IT and maybe Carrie. Anyone recommend any others?

[Mr_Pie]

"The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by T.E. Lawrence. Just started..

[ETC]

Reading this



Best crime fiction writer I have ever read, so gory and twisted but ace

[Fader209]

@evilthecat Does the book throw in lots of twists and surprises? I read the start on Amazon and it seems very much like the Saw movies...well, exactly like them to be honest. Does it stray away from where I think it is heading?

[ETC]

@evilthecat Does the book throw in lots of twists and surprises? I read the start on Amazon and it seems very much like the Saw movies...well, exactly like them to be honest. Does it stray away from where I think it is heading?

It does indeed read it! - the first couple I chapters come back much much later in the book it's how it gets there that's great

[NW2013]

Vernor Vinge - Zones of Thought. It's a two book compilation of "A fire upon the deep" and "A deepness in the sky".

I'm about 1/3 of the way through "A fire upon the deep" and it's mind bogglingly good. Packed with great ideas that were way ahead of its time and an overarching view of the galaxy as "zoned" areas where technology can only reach a certain level for reasons unknown.

Anyone who likes epic sci-fi should enjoy this.

Sounds very, very similar to Alastair Reynold's Terminal World that I read recently which was based on a tower like structure where the higher you went the more advanced the tech was but you couldn't transfer tech between the zones. I suppose the Vinge book would have been first.

[charlesr]

fader recommended Alastair Reynold to me as well. Will have to check out his stuff afterwards.

[NW2013]

Another Reynolds book I read recently was Blue Remembered Earth by Reynolds. That was worth reading. It's about a wealthy African family where the main character's grandmother dies and leads to a quest of sorts.

[QualityChimp]

I've just finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, which I'm sure all of you are aware is the basis for Blade Runner.

Well, it had an interesting start, but it really fizzles out at the end. The showdown between Deckard and the androids is over in a couple of pages and is really flat. It's main focus is on the religion of Mercerism by the end.

Bit of a let down, but it's interesting to see how it compares the the film, which I'm about to watch for only the second time.

I've also been listening to King's Dreamcatcher, which I've nearly finished. I've not seen the film adaptation, so it'd be interesting to see how they handled some of the psychic sections. Out of context, the farting parts at the start may seem a bit silly.

Also by King is Bag of Bones, which was read by him. In a similar technique to Dreamcatcher, he merges two genres together. Sometimes it focuses on one to the detriment of the other, but I was pretty gripped and wanted to know where it was heading. Personally, he killed off one-too-many characters and it ended up where I lost interest and just wanted to get to the end at about the 85% mark.

I understand the need to kill of some characters, but the last few times it's happened, instead of being a motivation for other characters' actions, I just found it frustrating that the investment in those characters and their relationships has been a waste of time and actually diminished my desire to read on.

[Fader209]

Really can't remember the end of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep...

->Open Spoiler<-

Do they only hint that Decker might be an android or is he a confirmed human? Mind is blank!

Best thing about Bladerunner for me has to be the music by Vangelis. Damn, going to have to watch it again soon for a fix haha.

I last read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for no other reason than I was waiting for my books to be delivered and this was sitting on a shelf. It was alright except the start and ending properly dragged when all I wanted was the murder mystery contained in the mid section. Watched the film afterwards which I felt handled the story very well yet it was still difficult to keep up with the family members names (everyone had the same surname and there were a lot of them) and key moments were glossed over quickly so you didn't quite keep up with what was going on (even though I knew).

And now my books have arrived As recommended by Charles I went for Vernor Vinge's - A Fire Upon the Deep and fancied something a little different and picked up Jurassic Park by Crichton. I gather it is about dinosaurs or something.

[ItsThere]

Just getting to the end of The Count of Monte Cristo and it is magnificent.

Some of the language can be difficult to penetrate and it is reasonably long but it is a classic for a reason, a proper page turner and a brilliant tale of betrayal and revenge.

Stick with it after the first 10 chapters and I promise it is worth the investment.

[QualityChimp]

Really can't remember the end of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep...

->Open Spoiler<-

Do they only hint that Decker might be an android or is he a confirmed human? Mind is blank!

Best thing about Bladerunner for me has to be the music by Vangelis. Damn, going to have to watch it again soon for a fix haha.

I last read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for no other reason than I was waiting for my books to be delivered and this was sitting on a shelf. It was alright except the start and ending properly dragged when all I wanted was the murder mystery contained in the mid section. Watched the film afterwards which I felt handled the story very well yet it was still difficult to keep up with the family members names (everyone had the same surname and there were a lot of them) and key moments were glossed over quickly so you didn't quite keep up with what was going on (even though I knew).

And now my books have arrived As recommended by Charles I went for Vernor Vinge's - A Fire Upon the Deep and fancied something a little different and picked up Jurassic Park by Crichton. I gather it is about dinosaurs or something.

The whole thing about Deckard being a replicant is discussed early on, but in my mind, it's pretty clear he isn't has he has the empathy for animals that the cyborgs lack.

The book ends thus:

->Open Spoiler<-

He finds an extinct frog in the desert, flies home, his wife finds out it's just a robot. The end.

I have a free copy of Dragon Tattoo (thanks Skull Commander), but I've not found time to read it yet.

A girl at work likes reading sci-fi too and we read Electric Sheep at the same time. Now we've moved on to Chricton's Swarm which is about nanobots. I like the films Westworld, The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, so I'm looking forward to seeing how his books are. It's nice to have somebody to chat about it with!

Chaz has just recommended A Fire Upon the Deep to me too, so I may track that down, but now I'm getting a backlog of books in the same way I have for video games, films and kung-fu flicks!

I have the audiobook of Terminal World to listen to after Dreamcatcher. I find an audiobook and Kindle book helps reduce that backlog...

[charlesr]

As prompted, I'm now on "Revelation Space". From the first 20 pages it's a slow burner showing signs of mammouth plot explosion very shortly

[PaTaito]

Just received A Vulgar Display of Power: Courage and Carnage at the Alrosa Villa

Unbelievable recap of circumstances leading up to the tragic on stage shooting of pantera's dimebag darrell abbott, along with one of his security team, an innocent trying to administer CPR, and many others shot and seriously injured.....all amongst mass panic at the alrosa villa gig.

Great book.

Oh and Cash: The autobiography

[Sam The Man]

RAFA My story - Rafael Nadal's Autobiography. Best sportsman in the world i.m.o.