The Book Thread

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DarkHorse
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The Book Thread

Post by DarkHorse »

Continued from the "Now Reading" thread on the previously-destroyed universe.

***

So I just finished the three main books of the Revelation Space series (finally, I've owned them for a year now but had no time/interest in reading until the last week). Had I known Chasm City were meant to fit in there, I'd have grabbed it as well, but these things happen.

The Good

Revelation Space was great, I thought. Nice intro to the universe, Reynold's ideas are a nice spin on the usual space opera theme, and his style is quite good at taking you there. Sylveste (both of them), Khouri, and the Triumvirate all have shades of good qualities but equally nasty sides, which I really like.

Redemption Ark carried out some of the same themes, and had much more on the Inhibitors, who seem to be some truly epic nasties. Plus there were some fun techno-goodies. Clavain is another character I really grew to like.

The Bad

This series took a nose-dive for me around the middle of Redemption Ark and never recovered. The plot seemed hurried, rushed in some ways, doing too much telling and not enough showing.

The disconnect between how Scorpio was presented as acting, and his motivations for those actions, and how he acted in the latter half of the book was....large, and never really explained.

The sub-plot w/ Bax seemed to really distract. Also I was having trouble wrapping my head around the need for the old cache weapons with all the new shit that was coming out of the Conjoiners, but that's something I can forgive, more of a nitpick. All in all it just seemed schizophrenic.

Absolution Gap, in its entirety, was like the worst parts of Redemption Ark with none of the good.

Quaiche and Grelier started out in the opening chapters with some dark promise -- that was one dark, dysfunctional lighthugger. Unfortunately, all that evaporated and we're left with some magical, somewhat unbelievable transformations.

The entire plot was a build-up to something he never should have touched, IMO.

In total, there was just a lot of telling and not a lot of showing in addition to what I felt was a weak plot.

The Ugly

I don't know what the hell Reynolds was on when he wrote the ending to this, but all I can say is "what the hell?"

Clavain, the character I really came to like in the second book, succumbs to Act of Plot out of no-fucking-where. If I were one to put down books, that might have done it.

The bad nasties that were built up across two books become a second-string Star Trek plot-device in Absolution Gap, and the ending is marked by a complete deus ex machina, after the red-herring deus ex machina is discounted because.....well, just because!

I might have accepted this if he'd tried to follow up on what happened w/ Sylveste in the first book, which he touched on in both RA and AG, but evidently it was more better to throw in some other crap.

Bad, bad Alastair.

I don't feel I'm worse for having read the series, but honestly if I'd just read the first book, then gotten a cliff-notes summary of the aftermath I think I'd be a lot more satisfied.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Peregrin »

I am halfways through The Old New Religion: The Forgotten Cultural Legacy of the West, a compilation of essays (edited by Mette Buchardt and Pia Rose Bowadt) about how Western occultism is anything but "new age" and has not only always been there but also has done a lot to shape mainstream religion and culture. Yesterday I just finished the ones on spiritism (the parallels to the history of ufology are interesting) and Theosophy, some Russian lady's attempt at reconstructing the primordial tradition all other world religions supposedly are corrupted versions of. Theosophy has influenced many from HP Lovecraft, who might have found it total bullshit when applied to the real world but borrowed a lot of its ramblings on lost civilizations and mysterious books of ancient lore for his fiction, to Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy and biodynamical agriculture.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Thunar »

I'm part way through the as yet incomplete Emberverse series by S.M. Stirling. It's a fascinating set of novels that shows what happens to Humanity following the complete, sudden, and inexplicable non-functioning of all technology more advanced than say, a kettle.

I reccomend it! But if you've read stories by Stirling before and aren't a particular fan of his style, then you might opt to steer clear. The concept, depth and realism with which he presents it makes it worth the investment in my opinion. Characterization is good in my opinion, not stellar, but certainly not bad.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Heretic »

Awaken the Giant Within is an excellent guide on gaining confidence, empowering goals, and all other self help topics (though I discard the Relationship betterment, as I don't need it. I slaver on the Fincancial Destiny though. i want to make 10,000 that can be burned.). It is by Anthony Robbins, and he shows how to take America by the neck and choke out that American Dream (yes, it exists). It shows how to support your belief systems, get confident on what you are saying, give value to yourself, and alot of other stuffs. It is awesome. You can check him out in youtube.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Peregrin »

I'm halfways through Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. I wish the chapter where he explains why God is so unlikely to exist could have been a bit longer, because an argument or two of Dawkins' isn't that well-explained even though the reasoning behind them makes perfect sense. Other than that, it is so far one of the most well-written nonfiction books I have read.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Heretic »

Dignity of a nation by a forgettable author is quite awesome. It tells how Western rationality causes many problems, and how Japan needs to get in shape and show forms of behavior and emotion. One may think of this as a nationalist book, but it mentioned that it has a love for ancestry, not self interest. I might add this to my political and spiritual standing cause it is so awesome. Just so you know, this book was written by a professer who stayed in America, shocked by what went on there, and then went to the UK and saw traditions and morales.

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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Peregrin »

Who wrote that Dignity of a Nation book? From your description I guess its author is Japanese.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Magister Militum »

Peregrin wrote:I'm halfways through Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. I wish the chapter where he explains why God is so unlikely to exist could have been a bit longer, because an argument or two of Dawkins' isn't that well-explained even though the reasoning behind them makes perfect sense. Other than that, it is so far one of the most well-written nonfiction books I have read.
Was that the book where the author refused to spell God with a capital G, and instead used a lower-case g?

Anyways, I recently finished reading From Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Art of Operational Warfare by Robert Cintino, and if you're a military history junkie, then this book is for you. It covers the triumphant return of maneuver warfare by the Germans, the gritty warfare of Korea and Vietnam, the outstanding victory by India over Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the disaster that was the Iran-Iraq War, and, finally, Desert Storm. the author knows his stuff, so if you ever wanted to brush up on operational-level warfare, this book is for you.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Dakarne »

Magister Militum wrote:Was that the book where the author refused to spell God with a capital G, and instead used a lower-case g?
My copy has 'God' put in uppercase. You might be thinking of something else.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Heretic »

Magister Militum wrote:
Peregrin wrote:I'm halfways through Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. I wish the chapter where he explains why God is so unlikely to exist could have been a bit longer, because an argument or two of Dawkins' isn't that well-explained even though the reasoning behind them makes perfect sense. Other than that, it is so far one of the most well-written nonfiction books I have read.
Was that the book where the author refused to spell God with a capital G, and instead used a lower-case g?

Anyways, I recently finished reading From Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Art of Operational Warfare by Robert Cintino, and if you're a military history junkie, then this book is for you. It covers the triumphant return of maneuver warfare by the Germans, the gritty warfare of Korea and Vietnam, the outstanding victory by India over Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the disaster that was the Iran-Iraq War, and, finally, Desert Storm. the author knows his stuff, so if you ever wanted to brush up on operational-level warfare, this book is for you.
I so want to read your recommended book, Magister.

Per, the DIgnity of a Nation is by Fujiwara Masahiko. His anti-Americanization ranting aside, I liked how he tackled the whole concept of rational thinking, reform, and logic. If you can chew past the whole American thing, as well as thinking Japan is the only nation with emotion and shape (AKA awesomeness), I say it's a good book. Heard it was the second most sold book in 2005.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Peregrin »

Ah! So I was right in my assumption! :)

Today I begun reading Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies, edited by Mark C. Carnes. It does exactly what the title implies - examines how historically accurate various movies set in the past are, but (for the most part) in a surprisingly affectionate manner.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Dakarne »

I've just got hold of The Wee Free Men and Soul Music.

Yet again, my megalomaniac urge to read every single Discworld novel is winning over common sense.
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'For the moment, mortal, they find the thought of killing me more desirable than that of killing you.'
'And what are their chances?'
'The answer to that is evident in how long they've been hesitating, wouldn't you think, mortal?'

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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Dakarne »

I've finished the aforementioned two, and now I've decided to pick up The Lord of the Rings again, and see about finishing it off this time. I've just gotten a little ways into the infamous Taming of Smeagol, which I will tackle by virtue of sheer tenacity. Of the Two Towers, I only have 179 pages left to read. Which, when you think about it in contrast to the amount I can read in a single day, which is 437 (latest Dresden Files novel) to 748 (two Discworld novels combined) or the whereabouts, I think I can actually very quickly finish the Two Towers because it only feels much bigger than it actually is.
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'For the moment, mortal, they find the thought of killing me more desirable than that of killing you.'
'And what are their chances?'
'The answer to that is evident in how long they've been hesitating, wouldn't you think, mortal?'

-Anomander Rake and Ganoes Paran in Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Peregrin »

Last weekend I read Chris Turner's Planet Simpson, which is... well, a book about how The Simpsons reflects and influences contemporary culture. Sometimes it goes a bit too far off-topic and seems a bit pretentious, but it's written well enough that I can forgive it.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Vagrant Orpheus »

I'm currently reading Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea and it's really very fascinating. it talks about how the concept never used to exist, and when someone did come up with the concept, the Greeks up and banned it for various reasons.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Peregrin »

Right now I'm kinda burnt out on fiction reading, so it's time for some non-fiction! 8-)

Today I begun reading Andrew Potter and Joseph Heath's The Rebel Sell: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture, a book whose thesis is that self-styledly subversive subcultures don't get assimilated and turned into empty fashion accessories by capitalism, they never even pose a threat in the first place because they're by definition based upon total misunderstandings of how society works. It's a really frustrating book... occasionally it makes a good point, like how left-wing intellectuals began moving their intellectual goalposts around in the 1920s, but for the most part the argumentation is really bad which is rather disheartening consider that one author is a philosophy professor at the University of Toronto. For a couple of examples, it makes some sweeping generalizations about hippies and just dismisses Herbert Marcuse's idea of "repressive tolerance" as nonsense without explaining in detail why it's nonsense.
Last edited by Peregrin on Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Dakarne »

Now I reach the perilous point of my reading list... I've finished The Two Towers, and now have seven distinct choices;

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson*
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski*
Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance*
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko*
Innocent Mage by Karen Miller
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

A star indicates that a novel that I have already begun reading, but I have yet to actually finish it. I also have an eighth choice, but I'm not mentioning that as part of the main list because it was infinitely rubbish according to all reviews I have read: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.
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'For the moment, mortal, they find the thought of killing me more desirable than that of killing you.'
'And what are their chances?'
'The answer to that is evident in how long they've been hesitating, wouldn't you think, mortal?'

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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Peregrin »

I'd go on to Return of the King if I were you. :)
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Dakarne »

I was actually thinking of taking a break from LotR. My most likely choices are actually one of those I've already started and would greatly like to finish at some point.
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'For the moment, mortal, they find the thought of killing me more desirable than that of killing you.'
'And what are their chances?'
'The answer to that is evident in how long they've been hesitating, wouldn't you think, mortal?'

-Anomander Rake and Ganoes Paran in Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by >Goby< »

Really I'd also go onto Return of the King, but that just me.

I am reading Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy(<Guess at spelling) Zahn, I'm nearly done and it has proved worthy of the title Star Wars. I might finish it tonight (Or tommorow). I will review it then.

I am also reading (After the above) The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and I am the Messanger the author of which I cannot call to memory. They are both highly recommended to me so i am trying them.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Artemis »

Innocent Mage looked interesting when I saw it on bookshelves.

I'm currently listening to Dreams of My Father, by Barack Obama, read by the fellow himself. Anything else about the man, he's a great orator, and not a shabby writer, either.

On a slightly less college student-y level, I picked up Brothers of the Snake, the Warhammer 40k book where Dan Abnett actually writes Space Marines. It's no Gaunt's Ghosts, but it's a very cool addition to Abnett's works nonetheless.

Next on the menu is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, which I'm ashamed to say I haven't read yet.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Invictus »

Finished Blindsight by Peter Watts twenty-four hours ago. Finally got off the high. Best hard sci-fi novel in the last two years? I would say maybe. For all those people who are talking about revamping Star Trek, drop everything and go read this, It's available as a free e-book. (but I liked it so much I bought the dead tree copy) The book also contains the coolest portrayal of vampires I've ever seen in science fiction, and that's from someone who is not particularly enthusiastic about vampires.
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Re: The Book Thread

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Sounds interesting, 'Vic. I'll take a look. I just picked up Ciaphus Cain: Hero of the Imperium, though I'll only be able to hit the massive paperback one or two pages a night since I'm preoccupied with summer reading. I finished On Writing from Stephen King in one day, which means I have to backdate journal on the book's passages this weekend.

Next is 'Before Women Had Wings'. Words can not describe how much I'm not looking forward to this.
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Re: The Book Thread

Post by Peregrin »

Mobius 1 wrote:Next is 'Before Women Had Wings'. Words can not describe how much I'm not looking forward to this.
What is that? The title makes it sound like something written by a perpetually stoned feminist. :P
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Re: The Book Thread

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Well, pretty much. Abuse, religion, South Florida, and incredibly boring story combine in some sort of perfect swirl. At least To Kill a Mockingbird was awesome, this is rather bleh so far.
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