What are you reading now?

[randombs]

Just started the last Dune Book (Chapter House Dune). This will be my second read-through.

My plan was to read the Dark Materials trilogy again because for some reason I got in the mood for it recently but I might go ahead with Ready Player One. I just read the first chapter on Google and it looks great!

[Finsbury Girl]

I've recently finished the entire David Gemmell collection. I'd read them all previously over the last many many years and it was great to catch up again with Druss, Jon Shannow and Waylander. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every book. Some are better than others and he was definitely becoming a better writer by the time he did his last series Troy, which was excellent. Yes one could argue that there was the same theme running over and over in his books, however that does not detract from the enjoyment as those themes were always about the better aspects of human character, love, loyalty, duty, honour, redemption and forgiveness.

Next up is the Riftwar Saga by Feist.

[usman]

I've just read Yoshimura Akira's One Man's Justice again.

It's always refreshing to get a story of Japanese servicemen in WW2 that doesn't dehumanize them. There isn't much in English but there is some.

I can understand how browbeaten the Japanese populace was, but to internalize so fully the American occupation's propaganda as many did was distasteful. Demonizing and marginalizing returning soldiers who did nothing more than fight for their country...low.

[wicky]

I've recently finished the entire David Gemmell collection.

From what I remember Quest for Lost Heroes was my favourite, I remember the last line of that book thinking omg there is an epic tale to come but he never wrote the story. Spoilered just incase...

->Open Spoiler<-

I am paraphrasing, but the two twins are miles apart an looking into each others direction and a bystander (can't rememeber his name) says 'What are you looking at ?' he replies 'My enemy'. I thought there was going to be a book about the war of the twins

[wicky]

I am currently reading The Magicans by Lev Grossman, however, I stumbled upon this today and it sounds soooo bonkers that I have to check it out soon

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17791344-hedging-his-bets?ac=1

Seems to be a romance novel involving a shape shifting were-hedgehog.

[prinnysquad]

I've read all of the main 'Bob' books recently by James Bowen. They're incredibly lightweight and repetitive, but I couldn't stop myself from really enjoying them. I'm a sucker for happy ending stories and the 'animal-saved-my-life' slant of these titles really engaged me. It also opened my eyes to the reality of being a Big Issue seller. Most of the time they're just annoying gits whom I avoid eye contact with by pretending I'm on the phone. What a complete bastard I am. They're just trying to earn a living for God's sake, in conditions I wouldn't send a dog out in. What's a few quid to me? A few quid that I'm ashamed to admit I'd only spend on ****e in Asda that ends up in the bin anyway when I can't be arsed to eat it within it's sell-by-date. In that respect, these books have been quite instructive.

[charlesr]

I'm reading "Run or Die", a book about an amazing Ultra Runner called Kilian Jornet. He's 25 and already taking every record going. Next year he aims to be the fastest man up Mount Everest. It was cool because in chapter 2 he describes running the Tahoe Rim Trail which I ran and mountain biked on a few months ago. Except he was running the full 167 mile loop in one hit! Previous record was 46 hours. He did it in 38

[QualityChimp]

I've just finished I Am Pilgrim by Terry Heyes. He's written the screenplays for Cliffhanger, Mad Max 2, Payback and Flightplan amongst others, but this is his first novel.

A retired top-class agent is dragged out of retirement when his cover is blown and he is dragged back into detective work which starts spiralling into a massive terrorist plot.

I was really gripped by the story and wanted to know how the main character would solve the various murders he ends up helping to solve and how they related to each other.

I part read it and part listened to the audiobook, but if I forget to pause the mp3 player, it restarts the chapter and had to listen to the eye gouging sequence three times...

[Finsbury Girl]

So finished the entire Riftwar Saga.....I really love the first 3 books (have done for years and have read them a few times), some cool ,neat ideas and the stand alone ones up to and including the Demon War ones (with Erik, Calis et al) where he concentrates on small adventure stories are enjoyable. However the way he has tried to retcon and shoe horn in stuff to fit in with previous books and the whole over arcing story is really, really poor. He has major plot holes, inconsistencies and generally he fails to build a coherent story arc. When he concentrates on sword/melee fighting, battles, intrigue and the like he succeeds everything else is astonishingly bad. The last few books really are a struggle to be honest and not a patch on Magician.

Next up all of the Robin Hobb books (just finished Farseer trilogy onto the Liveship Traders).

[k0pp0]

Finished Peter F Hamilton's latest book - The Abyss Beyond Dreams - And it's great again. I really don't think I've read anything of his that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed.

Now reading Stephen Kings Revival. Within a paragraph it was like slipping into a pair of comfy slippers.. great.

[QualityChimp]

You guys seem to like hard sci-fi, but I find it really inaccessible.

Got any suggestions for a gentle introduction?

[Finsbury Girl]

You guys seem to like hard sci-fi, but I find it really inaccessible.

Got any suggestions for a gentle introduction?

Give Neverness by David Zindell a bash....

[QualityChimp]

Thanks Finsbury!

[EvilBoris]

You guys seem to like hard sci-fi, but I find it really inaccessible.

Got any suggestions for a gentle introduction?

I'm not a reader at all, but in the last 2 decades I have read 2 Sci-Fi books, Consider Phlebas and Altered Carbon. I thought both of those were enjoyable and as someone who never reads they couldn't be too inaccessible.

[k0pp0]

You guys seem to like hard sci-fi, but I find it really inaccessible.

Got any suggestions for a gentle introduction?

Peter Hamilton's book's are quite beasty, but I didn't find them too tricky to get into and I'm not a mahoosive fan of sci-fi on the whole.