What are you reading now?

[Finsbury Girl]

Necroscope - Brian Lumley

quality.

[Finsbury Girl]

Oh meant to say, I've just re-read all of the Song of Ice and Fire books after reading the first 3 many years ago. I missed heaps of stuff first time around. Now that the last Wheel of Time book is out, I'm re-reading the entire series (stopped at number 10 years ago). I must say I'm really excited as I first read The Eye of the World sometime back in 90 or 91 (!!!). Am up to The Shadow Rising and remembering just how good these first few books actually were.

[Kieran76]

I have been reading The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson. A big fat fantasy epic and I read them when I was a teenager and thought they were fantastic so have been recommending them to people ever since. On rereading them, however, man they're hard work. The first book in particular is a real chore. Almost nothing happens and the prose is awkward. The main character is impossible to have anything but contempt for and the only thing keeping me going was the memory that, way back when, I found something to enjoy in these.

Mid-way through the second book now and it's better, mostly because the main character is barely in it now, but it's still hard work. Every now and again, I think the author went a bit hard on his thesaurus because there are these little pockets of baffling words all sitting together.

But I'm beginning to see a little of what I enjoyed about it the first time around. Just a little. The story is basically about this bitter, angry leper from our world who gets thrown into a Tolkienesque world where everyone thinks he's a hero. He doesn't believe anyone is real and doesn't want to do anything but moan. And yet there are all these grand magic lords treating him like a god. Unlike other stories where he would get over that pretty quickly and rise to the quest, he's constantly fighting the whole idea and, in doing so, it kind of breaks down the whole fantasy world. People constantly sacrifice themselves for him, which we see so much in other fantasy stories and yet here the pointlessness of it is exposed. It's almost like a little experiment in trying to tear down a fantasy epic.

But that makes for a pretty miserable read in places.

I'll keep going, if only because I get a snigger every time the author uses the word 'ejaculate' when people speak quickly.

I also read these as a teenager and found them tough going. In an English lesson we had the to write a review/summary of the books we were reading, I forgot so just copied the blurb from the inside cover, just changing the odd word. My English teacher gave me a B-, so he must have also had a low opinion of Donaldson.

[Finsbury Girl]

Oh meant to say, I've just re-read all of the Song of Ice and Fire books after reading the first 3 many years ago. I missed heaps of stuff first time around. Now that the last Wheel of Time book is out, I'm re-reading the entire series (stopped at number 10 years ago). I must say I'm really excited as I first read The Eye of the World sometime back in 90 or 91 (!!!). Am up to The Shadow Rising and remembering just how good these first few books actually were.

Ok - have just finished A Memory of Light. I don't really know what to say as I'm overwhelmed. A 20 odd year journey has finally finished. To be completely critical, it really did drag for a few books I think around 7-9 but the last one especially that Jordan himself wrote it felt like the story was coming good again.

The first of the 3 co-written by Brandon Sanderson was really jarring I must admit and I had to force myself to complete the book. But I'm glad I did, the last 2 were absolutely superb. Yes he's not as good as writer as Jordan but he packed so much into those 3 books, he did the man and the series proud.

I'm glad I finally got to the end of the story. The last 4 months reading this series has been awesome, I'm sad there's not another book coming and I had hoped for a longer Epilogue, for me it could have had another few hundred pages.

Thanks to the authors for this fantastic series. Looking forward to reading again in a few years time

[Nijo]

The first book in particular is a real chore. Almost nothing happens and the prose is awkward. The main character is impossible to have anything but contempt for...

I gave up on the first book because of this - it just wasn't rewarding. One of the few I've ever put down and not come back to.

The Gap series was absolutely fantastic (at the time - not sure how it stands up now).

[Charlie]

Reading the Tao Te Ching, again, for maybe the 20th time. Maybe more. One of them books you can read in an afternoon but contemplate for a lifetime.

[Dogg Thang]

I'm reading The Road and finding the punctuation crimes really distracting. The guy can obviously write and so it's clearly deliberate but sometimes it feels like he is barely literate. The cants and wonts are just annoying but I can get over that. I find the character voices much harder to hear as I read though without anything to denote actual speech. That affects my immersion.

But the worst ones are those incomplete sentences. The ones where I get to the end of a sentence, think I have misread it and go back only to find that, no, it's not actually a sentence.

What I haven't yet found is a single positive to his punctuation crimes. What's the purpose?

[prinnysquad]

From what you've said, it sounds utterly **** - near unreadable and annoying. I will avoid, serdadu.

[QualityChimp]

That's weird. I never noticed any punctuation mistakes when I watched the film...

[Charlie]

Mainly D. H. Lawrence poetry collectioins from the library. He wrote some blinders. The Ship of Death, in particular, is a gem. I love poets, to be able to put your subconscious down in writing, to express what for most of us is ineffable, it's a fine gift.

[kryss]

Up to volume 5 of School Rumble today.

['Press Start']

I am reading this:-


This is a great book which topics range from Forbidden Archaeology, The untold history of art, AIDS: A Doctors note on the man made theory, The Coral Castle Code (check it out), Codex Alimentarius: Big Pharma vs Big Farmer,The Druids: Preisthood of the ancient world and one of my favs so far The King Arthur Conspiracy which tackles the question of the original Kings of Britain and the true resting place of King Arthur (Wales apparently).

[Dogg Thang]

Finished The Road a few days ago. Absolutely miserable. Punctuation crimes got in the way, almost nothing happens in the book, not sure I liked the ending at all, one of the characters just sort of changes about halfway through for no real reason and yet I'd have to admit I found it very engaging. Curious to see the movie now.

But I really need to read a happy book now. Any happy feelgood book recommendations?

[QualityChimp]

"Join Me" and "Yes Man" by Danny Wallace are both good fun.

Give them a whirl, Thangster.
Wallace gets himself into all sorts of scrapes when he follows up on pub bets and inadvertently starts his own cult in the first book and says "Yes" to everything in the sequel (which the Jim Carrey film is based on).

I'm currently "The Death of Grass" and "The Chimera Vector"

The Death of Grass:

The Death of Grass is a '56 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the British author Samuel Youd, under the pen name of John Christopher It is the first in a series of post-apocalyptic novels by him. It deals with the concept of a virus that kills off all forms of grass. The novel was written "in a matter of weeks" & liberated Youd from his day job. It was retitled No Blade of Grass for the US edition as supposedly the US publisher thought the original title "sounded like something out of a gardening catalogue" & the film rights were sold to MGM.

The world's hunger turned to rape and murder. It began simply enough when an Asiatic virus destroyed the grass and grain supply of the entire world. A mass slaughter began as nations murdered their own citizens so that some might live. And then there came a time when every man lived for himself without laws or morals. It was then that there was no hope for civilization, because there was No Blade of Grass

The Chimera Vector:

The Fifth Column: the world?s most powerful and secretive organization. They run our militaries. They run our governments. They run our terrorist cells.

Recruited as a child, Sophia is a deniable operative for the Fifth Column. Like all operatives, Sophia?s DNA has been altered to augment her senses and her mind is splintered into programmed subsets.

On a routine mission in Iran something goes catastrophically wrong. Bugs are beginning to appear in Sophia?s programming and the mission spins out of control.

High-speed chases, gun fights, helicopter battles, immortal psychopaths, super soldiers and mutant abilities are all in the mix in this edge-of-your-seat action-packed techno-thriller.

Perfect for fans of Matthew Reilly, THE CHIMERA VECTOR melds sci-fi with sizzling espionage action

[Dogg Thang]

Thanks QC, appreciate the recommendations. Haven't seen Yes Man so the books will be all new to me.