What are you reading?

Picked up an old Harlen Coben, The Final Detail, for some entertainment and I haven't stopped chortling since. He tends to write more seriously in his other stuff, but his Myron Bolitar, Jewish sports-agent/detective series is full of one-liners that refuse to be ignored, not to mention extremely colorful characters. I think both Igvarheit and dte would enjoy this series a bunch as it does discard a bucketful of genre cliches, and in dte's case, the pages of sports references would probably add to the whole thing.

Still reading wh40k book, "Horus Rising", and i'm amazed how captivated i still am by the thing - once i pick it up i have to force myself to put it down. There's seven more books to go, yeah! This is like being turned on to a new band and discovering a huge discography yet to uncover.

Bored by almost everything i read, i think ive finally found my niche. Ive always read all i can on warhammer lore, but having it told from character pov really brings it home.

What's so great about it?
Well, for me, it's actually filling in the blanks when it comes to the mindset of the Imperium (humankind in 40, ooo ad). Yes, i know their cybernetically enhanced front line troops wage a never-ending crusade in a twisted ecclisiastic fervor to the Emperor, the figurehead of mankind itself, against anything non-human or towing the party line. But thyve always been blind machines to me, nothing but engines of the Imperium. This book shows the conflict within these centuries old warriors, as thyre confronted by the official record-keepers of the Imperium, the remembrancers. Are they still human? Do they have any emotion whatsoever? Indeed, they do, and what begns with cliche war-buddy comraderie and post-battle jingoist overload turns into a cool examination of the psyke of these men and culture of the Imperium when things go irretrievably south.

Im doing this on my phone, so if my post is flakier than normal it's because of that. And the triple espresso. For the Emperor!

China: A History by John Keay. Just bought it, and digging in. I know shamefully little Chinese history, and am attempting to remedy the situation a little bit. This book seems like a pretty good way to start. It's written for the general reader, not someone who's already familiar with the subject; the style is lively, and it covers the whole shebang in broad strokes of the brush in its 500-odd pages of relatively small print. I hope that once I'm finished I'll be able to tell my Ming from my Tang at least.

You'll soon learn where the Might & Magic game "Mandate Of Heaven" sub-title comes from ...

I already knew *that* much.

Fascinating stuff, by the way. I'm now through the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Warring States, Qin, and the first part of the Han periods. I like the book -- the writing is lively ("Sichuan, also known as the Land of Silk and Money"), the author gives the impression of knowing what he's talking about, and you just couldn't make this shit up, if you tried, they'd go "Aww, that's completely implausible -- nobody would fall for that!"

I especially liked the story of how they got a troublesome dowager queen out of the way, using a ruse that involved a slave with a wooden wheel stuck on his enormous dong. I told you, you can't make this shit up.

I am reading Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon. It is a psychedelic detective story. Some people will hate it, others will like it.

finished the first book of the Horus Heresy series of warhammer books. Really good, i liked it. Now I'm reading the Dragon Age : Stolen Throne book, and well….. it aint pretty. At least I'm at like the 3/4 mark, I might as well finish it now.

I'm no literary snob by any means, I love warhammer, lovecraft, anne rice. I get a kick out of Conan the Barbarian stories. This book has tested my patience quite a few times tho, the main characters just annoy me. In particular the main character Maric. The way he's described, like a jokester and playful and such, in an effort to make him likeable instead makes me loathe him. I see him in my mind as some grinning idiot of a Jim Carrey character or something. I keep hoping that he'll die horribly. He got it pretty good in a battle scene, but some damn mage healed him up. Bastard might as well be carrying little red potions around w/ him. Just the structure of the writing, for crissake… it's like one of my posts or somthing. But I dont get paid for this!

Gaider keeps coming back and adding little dramatic fill-ins at the end of paragraphs that just make me roll my eyes -

"They halted, terrified. Dressed in simple clothes, many were carrying belongings wrapped in cloth, and several had children hiding behind them. Not more militiamen. He moved his horse aside and waved them by. Tentatively, they went. One of the children burst into frightened tears."

It just seems like he's always saying "oh and by the way…. a kid burst into tears. oh by the way, he looks at her longingly… oh by the way, she sighs" or whatever, always tacking on some little melodramatic flourish at the end of everything. Melodrama like that needs to be worked in a little better, not just dropped in here and there like a special effect or something

Argh.

Since I study the development of ideas, I am currently reading several books on ancient greece.

I've been hanging out in bookstores lately so I'll have to say practically anything I pick from the shelves.

Finished "Carpe Jugulum" recently.

Nice and interesting book. It made me wonder about our "inner selves".

And about why there aren't so many "sportsmen" left in Real Life today ...

I'm not much into the habit of rereading books, but circumstances forced me to pick up again the only physical book I had lying around in my apartment. This might be something for PJ, actually, given that he's been into Chinese history recently, and of course also for everyone else who'd be interested. It's not actual history, but fantasy in a very Chinese setting.

Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.

Splendid little book. At times, particularly at the end, full of wondrous prose and generally very amusing. Had to laugh out loud a couple of times while reading. As I'm not too good with words, here's what's written on the back cover:

When the children of his village were struck with a mysterious illness, Number Ten Ox sought a wiseman to save them. He found master Li Kao, a scholar with a slight flaw in his character. Together they set out to find the Great Root of Power, the only possible cure.

The quest led them to a host of truly memorable characters, multiple wonders, incredible adventures—and strange coincidences which were really not coincidences at all. And it involved them in an ancient crime that still perturbed the serenity of Heaven. Simply and charmingly told, this is a wry tale, a sly tale, and a story of wisdom delightfully askew. Once read, its marvels and beauty will not easily fade from the mind.

The author claims that this is a novel of an ancient China that never was.
But, oh…it should have been.

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This is the kind of book that's a perfect gift to give to book-loving strangers. A bit less than 300 pages and fairly cheap and joyful to read. I've given away two copies, myself, although only to friends (so far).

Hi Cormac,

Well,Speaking of Borges, I'm reading his El Lenguaje de Buenos Aires (The Language of Buenos Aires). I also happen to be in Buenos Aires and sometimes find myself thinking how cool it is that I'm walking on the same streets he walked. (What can I say, he's one of my favourite authors.)

I'm also reading Tales of the Knights Templar which is fairly entertaining.

Thanks

Have begun "Tunnels". I'm undecided so far (3 chapters).

Wrapping up the second book in the Warhammer 40k: Horus Heresy books.

The book itself is pretty good, but after Abnett's excellent opener (the books of the series are by diff authors) i was expecting more than "pretty good". Some things are just inconsistent, dont make sense for Imperials, or flat out arent explained at all and left me scratching my head at how it could have passed QA.

For instance, one of the main thrusts of the Imperial belief system at the time of the tale is that the universe is completely natural and scientific, there is no supernatural world at all. No angels, demons, ghosts, whatever… everything can be explained by science and reason. Theirs is a totalitarian atheism and anti-mysticism outlook, wherein the mere mention that you may believe in any sort of spiritualism at all could very well be your death. Entire cultures, indeed entire worlds themselves are literally destroyed for this sort of thing. On top of that, non-human also equals death, this is mankind at his supposed pinnacle. By the way, these are the "Good Guys" we're supposed to be rooting for, to show you how fucked-up the wh40k universe is!

Anyway, in the first book, brushes with "supernatural" void beings drive people nearly crazy, namely Garvial Loken, one of Horus the Primarch's right-hand men. One instance w/ a void beast is a pivotal event for Loken in the first book, here in this installment he fights an entire ARMY of what he would consider supernatural monsters and it's "meh… just another battlefield." Come on!

It's a major conflict within in the first book, but when an event that dwarfs it in magnitude occurs in the second book, it's never really even expounded upon at all. This is a really big deal, and not to mention (but I'll mention it anyway) it freakin kicks the ass and literally kills one of the Primarchs, which are these near immortal genetically enhanced beings, whom are all but worshipped by their fellow warriors. This should be pivotal, the entire turning point of the fall of Horus, and it's an epic fail in how it's handled.

When it all shakes out, Horus is saved by what everyone around him would consider "primitive mystical forces" that bring him back. This isnt noted by anyone, it's given no exposition after it happens, it's just totally forgotten. Wouldnt all the soldiers have ANY thoughts about this? Wouldnt Horus? Wouldnt Loken, most of all? Come on, entire worlds are crushed for belief in this sort of thing, would nobody have any kind of inner conflict about what just happened?

Nope. Horus just suddenly "turns really mean", and everyone's running around scratching their heads trying to figure out why. Also, the honor-bound and glorious warriors of the first book are not so much here, in the way that they talk, act, etx seemed to get me more pumped about what they were all about. Here, it seems to feel more like the jingoism of Horus's Cheerleaders, instead of the mighty battle cries of dedicated supersoldiers.

It's an interesting read, the world of WH40K is a compelling world.

I am searching for something new to read but it has to be really good.I am a huge fan of David Gemmell and i decided to start with Joe Abercrombie books. Any advice if i am moving the right direction?
Thanks in advance

Gemmell is one of my favorites. Shame he passed away. You might give some thought to Glen Cook's Black Company series, but Gemmell had a rather unique style so I don't know many authors that I'd call comparable.

Recently finished Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. Fun bit of throwaway fiction. Interesting enough to keep me up late several nights.

Just started Elantris from Brandon Sanderson (the guy tabbed to finish Robert Jordan's stuff).

Two books at the moment:

1. "In The Night Room" by Peter Straub.
Maybe I've said it before, but Peter Straub is my favourite horror author. In this book we again meet author Tim Underhill, who is writing a new book which turns out to be a bit more complicated than expected. Partially because of his previous books. The story is basically a thriller with supernatural twists. Typical for Straub's work, the story develops slowly, getting more and more weird and suspensful. I really can't tell you much about the content of the book without spoilers. But if you like a good horror novel, you'll find exactly that here.

2. Dan Simmons: The Hyperion and Endymion saga (4 books).
Dan Simmons writes both horror novels and science fiction. These books belong to the latter.

The world consists of a lot of planets conneced through farcasters (teleports). And several planets currently outside the farcaster system. There is a war going on between the Confederation and the Ousters - long time space-travellers. And ther are the AI's in the Core, who have their own agenda. This is the general setting.

Hyperion is a world still outside the farcaster system. It's a very special world, due to the "Time Tombs" - pockets where time runs backwards, and the presence of the seemingly deadly and malevolent being called the "Shrike". In the first book ("Hyperion") 7 pilgrims set out on a journey to the Time Tombs which are about to open, whatever that means. Each of the pilgrims have their own reasons for being part of the journey, and most of the book is spent on them telling their stories. Each of the stories is like a novella on their own, exciting and beautifully told. There is the priest who was terribly cursed on a previous visit to the planet, There's the old Jew and his daughter who ages backwards after an accident at the time tombs (This part is my favourite, it's very touching). There's a poet looking for his muse (which is somehow connected to the Shrike). And we meet the soldier looking for a lost lover, the private detecting going to the time tombs on behalf of a client who couldn't make it and so on.

Eventually they reach the Time Tombs. End of book 1.

I've just started on book two: "The fall of Hyperion", so I can't say much about that, apart from that the story continues.

Recommended!!!!!!!

I was largely disappointed with Hyperion 1 & 2. Perhaps I had just heard too much hype, or maybe I didn't think far enough into the "deeper meanings", but one way or another it didn't get it done.

Not to say they were bad books by any stretch, but I didn't get the award winning, best evah experience advertised.

Mid-term progress report: at the 50% mark, Elantris is an excellent read. If the rest holds up, I'll be buying the Mistborn trilogy at some point soon.

dteowner said:

I was largely disappointed with Hyperion 1 & 2. Perhaps I had just heard too much hype, or maybe I didn't think far enough into the "deeper meanings", but one way or another it didn't get it done.

Not to say they were bad books by any stretch, but I didn't get the award winning, best evah experience advertised.
…

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That's ok. Just remember: I'm a Norwegian, and we KNOW things like these. For instance, we're the only one at the moment who knows why it's correct to give the Nobel Peace prize to Obama.

But seriously: I have no problem seeing that the books aren't everyone's cup of tea.

FWIW, I really enjoyed the Hyperion saga et al. Although, as I said in the past, the lengthy diversions in passages of deep introspection by some of the main characters became tedious and was skimmed.