# Good fiction books



## ekim68

Since the other thread got solved, he we go..

Just finished the fifth book from Naomi Novik that started with 'His Majesty's Dragon'. A series set during the Napoleon years with dragons as the Air Corp...Fun stuff, but what's cool is her knowledge of geography and history. :up: (Got me interested enough to look at some maps of the old Silk Roads and the territory they cross through...)


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## Paquadez

Hmm................................

Nobody reads anymore?


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## ekim68

Maybe they all just read tech manuals, eh Paq? 

But, just finished the third book of the Overland series by Tad Williams...What a roller coaster ride...:up: It's about a simulation world on the net with many different scenarios. The battle of Troy sequence would make Homer proud, including a particular Trojan Horse... One more book to go and it's 1048 pages... (I'm trying to squeeze in 200 pages a day and thank goodness it's summer and I'm not so busy...:up: )


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## golddust

Love Kathy Reichs "Bones" series (and the tv show as well). Patricia Cornwell's "Scarpetta" series. Tess Gerritisen's "Rizzoli & Isles" characters- which is being turned into a tv show starting July 12 by the way. Robin Cook (especially the Jack Stapleton/Laurie Montgomery characters which all his more recent books have featured).


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## golddust

It does seem like many folks don't read anymore. I know books are expensive these days, but have people forgotten about their public libraries??? That's where I get all my reading material. The younger generation's reading skills are so bad - they especially need to read more. Having worked in a local high school in the recent past, I know just how bad their reading skills are.


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## ekim68

I agree that more need to read....I just got back into it about 15 years ago and there is so much I missed out on and now catching up...:up: There are a lot more resources for kids of different ages nowadays...:up:


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## WendyM

Oh, I read. It just takes a lot for me to really recommend a book. But I'm reading all the time. Just finished Snow Falling on Cedars (liked it), am currently reading Atonement (like it) and will move next to Life of Pi. I'll let you know if I come across something that knocks my socks off!


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## Gabriel

I can only read about one fiction book a year in the past two years. That is all I have had time for. Last year I read Dragon Seed, by Pearl Buck. I loved her book.
This year I am reading the first two novels of Shattered Vessels: The Summer in the Street of the Prophets / A Voyage to Ur of the Chaldees, by David Shahar. For me this is a difficult read, but for some reason, I can't put it down. I love books, movies, and music that can transport me, and this one does. Too bad I don't have more time to read leisurely.


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## ekim68

Hey Gabriel, have you ever read any of Tamora Pierce? She has some great women warriors....:up: I read books to lift me up...:up:  (Well, not only.. )


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## Paquadez

I'm a writer: therefore I read: copiously.

I read fiction to relax and escape.

Authors I like for escape: Michael Crichton: John Grisham: Michael Connolly: Clive Cussler.

Older writers: Neville Shute: I'm a huge fan of his books and of the man.

George Orwell: I also appreciate his social commentaries such as Homage to Catalonia: Down and out in Paris and London.

Steinbeck: particularly The Grapes of Wrath.

Hemmingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Old Man and The Sea:

Ian Rankin and his Rebus novels. First class characterization and plotting.

.


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## Gabriel

ekim68 said:


> Hey Gabriel, have you ever read any of Tamora Pierce? She has some great women warriors....:up: I read books to lift me up...:up:  (Well, not only.. )


Hi Ekim, No, I haven't read her books. I lean more toward scifi in the past than fantasy....though I like books like Woman Who Run with Wolves, also. That would be the closest I get to female archetypal stuff.


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## hotskates

I love to read anything by John Grisham. I love stories about the law and lawyers and the entire court system. And I love mysteries.... I also like reading about far away places like John Grisham includes in many of his novels. I recently found a new author named Ted Dekker which I like quite a bit.


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## bill.aam

Great WWII spy novel.










*and*

If you've read either "The Gold Coast" or "The Charm School", "Plum Island" is IMO, better then either of those...


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## bill.aam

I've also just started reading...










...in anticipation of the mini-series of the same name, starting July 23rd on Starz in the US.


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## Paquadez

Really, the only good book Follet wrote.

As with so many, he eventually became a template writer..........


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## Wino

Paquadez said:


> Really, the only good book Follet wrote.
> 
> *As with so many, he eventually became a template writer...*.......


Same as happened to Robert Ludlum IMO.

Anything by James Michener, Leon Uris or James Clavell. All good story tellers.


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## ekim68

I just finished the last book of the Otherland....Very powerful and abstract...I told my wife I was never gonna read from that author again... But, then I decided I'll reread the last 75 pages...


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## ekim68

I got the 6th book in Naomi Novik's dragon series and it's done in Australia, another geography lesson...:up:


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## buffoon

bill.aam said:


> If you've read either "The Gold Coast" or "The Charm School", "Plum Island" is IMO, better then either of those...


Strange. Plum Island and Charm School did little for me where I found the Gold Coast quite good. His best IMO was "Word of Honor". Followed by (although written earlier) "Rivers of Babylon".


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## buffoon

Wino said:


> Same as happened to Robert Ludlum IMO.


Indeed.


> Anything by James Michener, Leon Uris or James Clavell. All good story tellers.


:up: With Michener a class of his own.

Sadly all gone by now. I'll throw in Len Deighton as the poor man's Le Carré. And John le Carré himself of course. Especially since he's still around.


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## valis

buffoon said:


> And John le Carré himself of course. Especially since he's still around.


The Night Manager.......easily in my all-time top 20 or so.......

still would have to lean towards 'The Jackal' as one of the best espionage books ever written.


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## buffoon

Paquadez said:


> I'm a writer: therefore I read: copiously.
> 
> I read fiction to relax and escape.
> 
> Authors I like for escape: Michael Crichton: John Grisham: Michael Connolly: Clive Cussler.
> 
> Older writers: Neville Shute: I'm a huge fan of his books and of the man.
> 
> George Orwell: I also appreciate his social commentaries such as Homage to Catalonia: Down and out in Paris and London.
> 
> Steinbeck: particularly The Grapes of Wrath.
> 
> Hemmingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Old Man and The Sea:
> 
> Ian Rankin and his Rebus novels. First class characterization and plotting.
> 
> .


Speaking of Spain, if you haven't come across him already, Gerald Brennan. Once loosely linked with the Bloomsbury group, his accounts of Spanish history and first hand experience of Spanish culture are captivating (he lived here til the outbreak of the Civil War and later returned to finally die here). Much revered by Spaniards.

Currently reading "Malaga burning" by his American wife Gamel Woolsey.


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## ekim68

Just started the Shannara series again by Terry Brooks...Ready for another rollercoaster ride....


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## valis

gad........haven't read those since there was only one of them..........


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## ekim68

Did you know he wrote a prequel to the "Sword"?


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## buffoon

valis said:


> The Night Manager.......easily in my all-time top 20 or so.......
> 
> still would have to lean towards 'The Jackal' as one of the best espionage books ever written.


 :up:Forsyth had slipped my mind.


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## valis

ekim68 said:


> Did you know he wrote a prequel to the "Sword"?


Yup.......still haven't gotten around to those.......

Sorta grew out of my 'fantasy' novels around 12 or 13 or so......the only books that survived that schism were the first trilogies of Thomas Covenant and the Pern series.......


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## valis

buffoon said:


> :up:Forsyth had slipped my mind.


man, the debates I've had for the best espionage novels......'Bear Island' is frequently overlooked, as is the original Bourne; the rest of the Bourne books are useful as kindling, but that's about it.

'Smiley's People', unbelievably good read.

getting out of espionage, 'The Berkut' is a nicely done little read about the last days of WWII........


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## buffoon

valis said:


> man, the debates I've had for the best espionage novels......'Bear Island' is frequently overlooked, as is the original Bourne; the rest of the Bourne books are useful as kindling, but that's about it.
> 
> 'Smiley's People', unbelievably good read.
> 
> getting out of espionage, 'The Berkut' is a nicely done little read about the last days of WWII........


You ever follow the Renko Arkady series of novels by Martin Cruz Smith ? He of "Gorky Park" (movie) fame? Incredible insight into life in Russia and how the "machine" works, pre and post communism.
I, at the time, looked up Smith's CV to see whether he was in some part Russian. Nope. That left only very good research. I love that. One thing turns me off is sloppy research to describe the surroundings of a plot. Turns me off the book (or film) no matter how good the story as such.


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## valis

LOVE martin cruz smith....ironically enough, my favorite of his is actually not in the Renko group (althought _Polar Star_ is a splendid read) but rather his fictional covering of the Trinity tests, and his fantastic description of Oppenheimer.


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## ekim68

Well I'm rereading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein. Nothing like a revolution to get the blood going..


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## valis

heck, pretty much anything by Heinlein is a safe bet.....'the cat who walks through walls' is very high up in my all-time list.


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## Jeckler

Janet Evanovich - Stephanie Plum series. Stephanie is a lingerie salesperson turned bond enforcement agent in her cousin's bailbond. Light hearted, but can be intense. 16 books in the series plus 4 offshoots.

James Patterson - Women's Murder Club. Lindsay Boxer is a homicide detective in San Francisco. Her best friend Claire is the chief ME, friend Jill is an ADA and new friend Cindy is a reporter. Good stuff. 9 books in the series.


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## valis

on a HUGE Elmore Leonard kick right now......happens once or twice a decade.......


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## ekim68

Just started a four book series by George R. R. Martin call "A Song of Ice and Fire"....I was never into monarchies and castles and such, but the intrigue of back stabbing within the family is intriguing...


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## ekim68

ekim68 said:


> Just started a four book series by George R. R. Martin call "A Song of Ice and Fire"....I was never into monarchies and castles and such, but the intrigue of back stabbing within the family is intriguing...


Well after one and a half books into this I'm moving on... I think of number of authors are stretching things out for their retirement... I don't have time for that, so before moving on with Brooks' series I'll interrupt it with "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi...


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## valis

Didn't we already talk about that one? That's the one with the skip drive, right?

Gibson, 'The Difference Engine'.......just can't get enough of that dude.


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## ekim68

Yep that's the one with skip drive. Have you ever read a book more than once? Or twice?


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## valis

Oh heck yeah......there's a few that I limit to 'x' amount of times per decade (too good, don't want to accidentally memorize the dang thing) but generally I will re-read a solid book or series every 7 or 8 years, or when the urge strikes.


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## Wino

ekim68 said:


> Yep that's the one with skip drive. Have you ever read a book more than once? Or twice?


This'll knock your shorts off. I've read the KJV bible from cover to cover 3-4 times. Granted, it's been a long time since the last time (probably my mid-20's).


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## buffoon

Wino said:


> This'll knock your shorts off. I've read the KJV bible from cover to cover 3-4 times. Granted, it's been a long time since the last time (probably my mid-20's).


I preferred the Luther one. The original protestant and the oldest bible outside of catholicism. But like you I haven't touched it since the mid 1920s.


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## indianacarnie

well... i read some version of it once a year. and i am NOT a christian btw. due to the nature of my business (see my user name  ) my reading is done mainly in the winter. my FICTION reading is mostly the old old stuff. mark twain, dashill hammet, both the mcdonalds-(yeah i love a good hard boiled detective haha). i do try to read everything carl hiaiiason releases. the man is freaking great, imagination with a real sense of humor. was a huge science fiction fan for a long long time but dont read much of the newer stuff. will re-read one of the "classic's" once or twice a year. love to find the old, old paperback "years best" short story collection's. guess lucifers hammer was the last s.f. novel i re-read. like all of kurt vonnegut's stuff and re-read them on occasion.


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## Adobe_Andrew

Just picked up True Grit by Charles Portis. Looking forward to it. The book also serves as the basis for the Cohen Bros. next movie.


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## Wino

buffoon said:


> I preferred the Luther one. The original protestant and the oldest bible outside of catholicism. But like you I haven't touched it since the* mid 1920s.*


 Just caught that. Iberians!! You're off a few years. I was in my mid 20's at the fall of the Alamo March 1836, wise acre.


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## buffoon

Wino said:


> Just caught that. Iberians!! You're off a few years. I was in my mid 20's at the fall of the Alamo March 1836, wise acre.





> wise acre


Oh right. So was that the Anglo name of it (the Alamo)?


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## Wino

buffoon said:


> Oh right. So was that the Anglo name of it (the Alamo)?


No. It was more along the lines of 'Desastre de Bejar' at that time.


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## buffoon

Wino said:


> No. It was more along the lines of 'Desastre de Bejar' at that time.


Oh well, really just a devious but clever ploy to lure Saint Anne to Saint Hyacinth


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## ekim68

Just finished the third and last book of Old Man's War by John Scalzi. The Last Colony was another wild ride for a sci-fi fan like me..:up:


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## valis

in the middle of 'A Man In Full' by Wolfe.......good read......


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## Brigham

Some of the books I used to read as a child, are now banned by libraries in England. Hugh Lofting's Dr. Dolittle and Edgar Wallace's Sanders of the River series are now not available. Political correctness again.


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## ekim68

Get a digital reader....There are a few and they have access to everything....Computers, you gotta love them....:up:


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## ekim68

I finished Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb today....The first of the Farseer trilogy series and I had good fun with it. And ended it with a tear in my eye....On to the next one...


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## valis

picked up 'city come a-walkin' by John Shirley.........that's the book that got Gibson started on Neuromancer, which is arguably the book that started the cyberpunk genre........


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## DarqueMist

Just finished The Strain, the first in a trilogy by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan. A very different take on Vampires. Not the classic story, not the new wave vampire story either. Sort of a CSI meets pandamic meets ..... 

Really looking forward to the next in the series (but have to wait, can't bring myself to pay new release hardcover prices)


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## ekim68

I'm re-reading the last book in the Otherland series by Tad Williams, Sea Of Silver Light, because I think I can absorb more right now...:up: And for my birthday my wonderful wife is getting me the last book of the Shadowmarch series, by the same author, on Tuesday...:up:


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## valis

re-reading 'interface', by stephen bury.........which is actually neal stephenson and his uncle.......good little pulp fiction, I reckon.


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## ekim68

Just finished Shadowheart, the last book in the Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams....:up: I'll probably reread the whole series again some day, it was a lot of fun... Got to take a few days off now to absorb it...


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## ekim68

valis said:


> re-reading 'interface', by stephen bury.........which is actually neal stephenson and his uncle.......good little pulp fiction, I reckon.


Do you have a favorite by Neal Stephenson?


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## valis

cryptonomicon, baby.


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## ekim68

A friend just recommended The Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake. Looks interesting. Anyone here ever read it?


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## ekim68

Well I started the Gormenghast trilogy. A good day for it too because it's 22 degrees out and the fireplace is warm...


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## valis

ekim68 said:


> Do you have a favorite by Neal Stephenson?


Just finished re-reading 'Snow Crash'.......forgot what a fantastic read that was (hadn't read it since 97 or so), and the very interesting 'metavirus' thoughts it introduces.........:up:


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## ekim68

One of my best presents for Christmas was a gift certificate to Borders for $50.00. I'm going over there today to pick up Zoe's Tale by Scalzi to finish off the Old Man's War series. I'm also gonna pick a Neal Stephenson book, not sure which one because I have a few on my list....


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## valis

if you've not read Snow Crash, start there........fantastic read.


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## ekim68

Snow Crash moved to the top of the list, but it will have to wait until tomorrow as business got in the way today.  Thanks Tim...


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## valis

de nada......

worky does get worky on occasion, doesn't it?


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## steppenwolf

i was trying to read Cochran the real life master and commander


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## ekim68

A little synopsis on it steppenwolf?


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## steppenwolf

ekim68 said:


> Well I started the Gormenghast trilogy. A good day for it too because it's 22 degrees out and the fireplace is warm...


i tried reading that back in 1969

its odd er Edison also wrote some


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## steppenwolf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._R._Eddison


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## ekim68

steppenwolf said:


> i tried reading that back in 1969
> 
> its odd er Edison also wrote some


You got that right, it is odd and some of the sentences are paragraphs... But also eloquent...:up:

But what's this about Edison?


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## ekim68

valis said:


> if you've not read Snow Crash, start there........fantastic read.


Got it today.. :up:


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## valis

awesome......let me know what you think. :up:

currently reading Womack's Dryco series.


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## ekim68

I'm half way through it and it's starting to kick into high gear. :up: (Even has me going to wikipedia for some information on Sumeria.) His analogy of old religions and putting them into play during the current time frame reminds me in a way of Naomi Novik's style of integrating Napoleon's battle tactics into her Temeraire series...


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## valis

w00t indeed. 

Glad you are enjoying it, Mike.......'tis an excellent read.


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## steppenwolf

took me forever to get back here

books by a mr e r eddison


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## steppenwolf

took me forever to get back here

books by a mr e r eddison


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## ekim68

valis said:


> w00t indeed.
> 
> Glad you are enjoying it, Mike.......'tis an excellent read.


Finished today and I want a skateboard like YT....:up: (And her uniform because I'm getting up there in age and I need all the protection I can get...  )

Have you read Otherland? Another network world... Very good...


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## steppenwolf

Eric Rücker Eddison - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Rücker_Eddison

Eddison is best known for the early romance The Worm Ouroboros (1922) and for three volumes set in the imaginary world Zimiamvia, known as the Zimiamvian Trilogy: Mistress of Mistresses (1935), A Fish Dinner in Memison (1941), and The Mezentian Gate (1958).

These early works of high fantasy drew strong praise from J. R. R. Tolkien,[4] C. S. Lewis,[5] and Ursula K. Le Guin.[6] Tolkien generally approved Eddison's literary style, but found the underlying philosophy rebarbative; while Eddison in turn thought Tolkien's views "soft".[4] Other admirers of Eddison's work included James Stephens (who wrote the introduction to the 1922 edition), Robert Silverberg,who described The Worm Ouroboros as "the greatest high fantasy of them all"[7] and Clive Barker.[8]
Eddison's books are written in a meticulously recreated Jacobean prose style, seeded throughout with fragments, often acknowledged but often frankly stolen, from his favorite authors and genres: Homer and Sappho, Shakespeare and Webster, Norse Saga and French medieval lyric. Critic Andy Sawyer has noted that such fragments seem to arise naturally from the "barbarically sophisticated" worlds Eddison has created.[9] The books exhibit a thoroughly aristocratic sensibility; heroes and villains alike maintain an Olympian indifference to convention. Fellow fantasy author Michael Moorcock wrote that Eddison's characters, particularly his villains, are more vivid than Tolkien's.[10] Others have observed that while it is historically accurate to depict the great of the world trampling on the lower classes, Eddison's characters often treat their subjects with arrogance and insolence, and this is depicted as part of their greatness.[11] Indeed, at the end of The Worm Ouroboros, the heroes, finding peace dull, pray for - and get - the revival of their enemies, so that they may go and fight them again.[12] Fantasy historian Bria


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## valis

ekim68 said:


> Finished today and I want a skateboard like YT....:up: (And her uniform because I'm getting up there in age and I need all the protection I can get...  )
> 
> Have you read Otherland? Another network world... Very good...


have not.......have to check that one out......


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## ekim68

I'm rereading the Gypsy Morph again and it's pretty accurate to our Northwest area... (It's an end-of-the-world kind of thing so be prepared... )


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## ekim68

Just picked up The Magicians by Lev Grossman while at the book store today...A friend recommended it and I'll dig in hopefully a little later today....


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## ekim68

The Magicians was a good read, although a bit too adult, but I was disappointed in the end...But fear not, there's a sequel coming out later this year so maybe it will seal the deal...:up: But recently I've been curious about the history of the Middle East and with it stories that come with it....Such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.... Could be a discussion of whether this was mostly a handed down lore or a metaphor for the direction of that society....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh


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## valis

in the midst of 'catch 22' and 'infinite jest'.......two authors whom I decidedly wish were still among us.........


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## ekim68

Just picked up the first book in the Baroque Cycle series by Neal Stephenson...The title is Quicksilver...


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## valis

yup.......couldn't quite make my way through that one.....I bogged down and out about halfway through it.


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## ekim68

I'm bogging down on it too although I'll get back to it. (It's requires serious concentration, something I'm not known for.. ) During the mean time however, I'm getting a great chuckle out of "The Accidental Sorcerer" by K.E. Mills right now and I got the latest book in the "Maximum Ride" series...:up:


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## lamnabhi

ulision of life


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## lamnabhi

it's really good


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## ekim68

lamnabhi said:


> ulision of life


Author?


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## ekim68

Just got the two book series of Witch & Wizard by James Patterson....It's cool, love the attitudes....:up: And, they're one-day books...


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## valis

is it just me, or is Douglas Coupland beginning to look more and more like PKD?


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## ekim68

Pkd?


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## valis

philip dick, 'do androids dream of electric sheep', etc.........


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## valis

dagnabbit. Had NO clue that Steakley died. His book 'Armor' I've recommended a few times in here, I believe, and loved his other one as well, Vampire$. Somewhere I have a partial copy of his new book, and just went to check on-line to see the status off it and dang it if he didn't go and croak on me......sheesh.


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## ekim68

Just finished the third book of the Rogue Agent series by K.E. Mills, "Wizard Squared", and I have to tell you that although it was a great flourish, I'm tired of trilogies turning into five-book series... (Or, maybe not, it's been a good ride... )


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## eggplant43

_So many books, so little time. A great sadness came over me me when I realized one day that no matter how much time I devoted to reading, I'd never get to read everything I wanted to read_

That being said, Wino and I have very similar tastes, anything by Michener, Clavell, and I still like Ludlum, and Uris. Also anything by Dickens, London, and my favorite, Barbara Kingsolver. I also loved the "His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman starting with "The Golden Compass", aimed at teenagers, it was just right for me in my 50's.


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## ekim68

Aimed at this teenager anyway...:up: His Dark Materials is a classic and I've read it, and will read it again. 
A fabulous adventure....


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## valis

eggplant43 said:


> _So many books, so little time. A great sadness came over me me when I realized one day that no matter how much time I devoted to reading, I'd never get to read everything I wanted to read_
> 
> That being said, Wino and I have very similar tastes, anything by Michener, Clavell, and I still like Ludlum, and Uris. Also anything by Dickens, London, and my favorite, Barbara Kingsolver. I also loved the "His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman starting with "The Golden Compass", aimed at teenagers, it was just right for me in my 50's.


heyya Captain Aubergine........

May want to take a look at Brad Thor; I've only read one, 'the last patriot', but it ranked up there with Ludlum, IMO. Not 'Bourne Identity' material, but then again, very, very few espionage books make that grade. Maybe 'Day Of The Jackal', but that's about it.


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## eggplant43

Thanks, I'll check out Brad Thor.

BTW, I forgot to mention I am currently reading "Gai-Jin" by James Clavell.


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## eggplant43

I forgot to mention one of the best books I've read in years, "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow.

Available here, as a free download:

http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

Being an old f.............I read the hard copy.


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## valis

yup, even though I'm an IT geek, I still use the 'analogue' versions of books.


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## ekim68

My grandson just gave me a copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Gonna dig into it as I am a young adult at heart...


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## ekim68

Just got notified by Barnes and Noble that the fourth book in the Inheritance series is coming out in November...About time...:up:


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## ekim68

Just finished the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and I have to say Wow....What an emotional ride. It's gonna take a couple of days to digest it...................


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## valis

what was the final verdict on Snow Crash, btw?

Still gnawing away on Infinite Jest; this one is probably going to make it to the top of valis' 'Best Books Of The 20th Century' list........:up:


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## ekim68

I thoroughly enjoyed Snow Crash and I'll read it again....:up: My grandson has it now... Author of Infinite Jest?

(I'm _still_ reliving the last several chapters of the Hunger Games....)


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## valis

David Foster Wallace.........but I warn you, it's a tome........easily as dense as Gravity's Rainbow, and about 5 times as lengthy. But well, well worth it.


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## ekim68

Just starting The Last Stormlord by Glenda Larke. It's about water and the control of water in an arid land. (The future on earth perhaps?  )


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## ekim68

I'm rereading the Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce...I'm a fan of this woman hero who's a cop on the street...:up:


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## valis

good link to some good reading.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011...Index+3+(Top+Stories+2))&utm_content=My+Yahoo


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## ekim68

Thanks Tim. I've saved the link...:up:


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## valis

ditto here........didn't have time to check it out.


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## hotskates

I just finished Ted Dekker's book: "Immanuel's Veins". Good book to read on a rainy California day! I am still not sure if it was about vampires or not? Kinda confusing. Dekker is a Christian author who kindof has confusing plot twists about good vs. evil. I really like all of his books....so far  I've read "Adam", and "Bride Collector" and "The Priest's Graveyard", and my favorite book of his was "Thr3e".


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## ekim68

I just finished Threshold by Sara Douglass and it was a good journey. Classic good against evil mystical adventure....:up:

Just picked up a copy of JOB: A Comedy Of Justice by Robert Heinlein at a second hand book store today...I'll probably start it tomorrow or the next day...


----------



## valis

huh..........read that last week.........

great minds.


----------



## DarqueMist

Stepped out of my usual fantasy preference to give some science fiction a try. Currently enjoying the Dreaming Void by Peter F Hamilton


----------



## ekim68

Just finished JOB: A Comedy of Justice by Heinlein and it was a wild and wicked ride...:up: At one point towards the end of the book I was laughing so loud I woke up my cat...


----------



## dotty999

that's cruel!


----------



## buffoon

I'm gonna start Jayne's book of military blunders. Again.

Wakes up about twenty cats. My three and those in the neighborhood.


----------



## dotty999

you guys are jus' too much!



I'm reading Meg Hutchinson - Sixpenny Girl, a great historic read!:up:


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> Just finished JOB: A Comedy of Justice by Heinlein and it was a wild and wicked ride...:up: At one point towards the end of the book I was laughing so loud I woke up my cat...


dude...........excellent book......not as good as 'the cat who walks through walls' (easily in my best 10 ever, regardless of genre), but still a wonderful satirical comedy.

Of justice.


----------



## ekim68

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls is on my list now Tim. And I just got my wife a Kindle for her birthday so I may have it quicker than I thought...


----------



## valis

that one, or either 'The Number of the Beast' are my favorite books by Heinlein......they both tie in with various characters, as they were both written later in his life, but I can say this; 'the cat' is the ONLY book I've ever read that I felt compelled to finish, and I've read a couple three books in my time........very moving book, IMO.


----------



## ekim68

Just started reading The Magician by Michael Scott. It's the second book in the Alchemist series and it's the first book I've read on a Kindle. And I'll have to give it a thumbs up...:up: I thought I'd be old fashion about turning pages and such, but I like it....


----------



## ekim68

Holy jumpin' up and down, finished that book today and ordered the next one, "Sorceress"...:up: How cool is that? 
And now it's at my fingertips....:up:

However, I just found a deal on a hardback in good condition that I ordered at Amazon.com....Guess what Tim? Yep....

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls....:up: I should have it in a couple days......


----------



## valis

awesome..........my personal fave of his......

Let me know what you think.


----------



## hotskates

I just finished reading "Vigilante" by Robin Parrish. The main character is a retired special forces war hero who goes undercover with special protective clothing & james bond gadgets to save the world from crime and mobsters. I loved the constant feeling of being absorbed in an action movie while reading the book. And the book ended just like I hoped.


----------



## ekim68

Ok, I'm half way through The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and I'm savoring every chapter...Thanks Tim, I'm laughing my head off....:up: I'll tell you what I really think when I finish it.....


----------



## valis

Awesome, Mike.....glad to hear it........love passing on some knowledge on occasion.


----------



## steppenwolf

Fahrenheit 451


----------



## ekim68

Finished The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and it was a genuine kick....:up: Now I've got to reread The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress to brush up on the past, or was it the future?  Seems to me that John Scalzi might have read that too because a lot of it reminds me of Old Man's War.....Geez, I'm gonna have to reread that series too....

I have to say that in my opinion, Heinlein got to be a dirtier old man the older he got and wrote...


----------



## valis

indeed..........and a LOT of his military and political preferences shone through.


----------



## ekim68

And that's why I think you would like Scalzi, Tim.....He's a younger version of Heinlein, IMHO...

Old Man's War


----------



## valis

Yeah, I've looked at that......been thinking about it. Maybe I just need to read the dang thing.


----------



## ekim68

It's a quick read....And only four more afterwards....:up:


----------



## ekim68

As you may know, Borders is closing down and offering a lot of deals. I went and picked up Agent To The Stars by John Scalzi today so I'm gonna be a lazy ekim on this Sunday afternoon....


----------



## ekim68

Well, I just finished Agent to the Stars and it was great. :up: I'd recommend it to anyone who likes lots of sarcasm and adult humor....


----------



## valis

reading The Wild Blue currently; easily the best fictionalized account of the early days of the USAF I've ever read.


----------



## golddust

Eagerly awaiting Kathy Reich's latest due out next month - "Flash & Bones". I already put myself on my library's waiting list. Also Robin Cook's latest title "Death Benefit" is due out Dec 27. This one will not feature the Jack Stapleton/Laurie Montgomery duo however. Was disappointed to read that - I really enjoy the books featuring these NYC medical examiner characters. He's been centered on them for so many books now it'll seem odd reading about different characters.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Awakened Mage by Karen Miller, the second, and last, book in the Kingmaker/Kingbreaker series. Wow..:up:
A fantastic fantasy story of epic proportions.....


----------



## ekim68

Having just read the Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks, I have new found respect for the end of the world...


----------



## ekim68

Just started reading The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert Redick. The first of The Chathrand Voyage trilogy...


----------



## ekim68

Well I'm halfway into the second book of The Chathrand Voyage, The Ruling Sea, and it is a fascinating read....A fun story of adventurism...:up:


----------



## casseysmithe

John Grisham's and Paulo Coelho's are always good bets on the fic category. Who can recommend non-fic writers (particularly with the world war accounts inclination)..?


----------



## ekim68

Good to see a number of my favorites on this list: 

Your Picks: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

(Although I think that the Otherland series should have been included..)


----------



## eggplant43

Just finished Poland, by James Michener , a fascinating read. learned a lot. Published in 1983, it preceded the fall of the Berlin Wall by 6 years, interesting to see the perspective at that time.


----------



## ekim68

Just pre-ordered "Inheritance", the last in a series by Paolini. It's coming out Nov. 8th so I have time to re-read the previous book...:up:


----------



## ekim68

Got the Inheritance book and now I'll dance my way through the 850 page book...:up:


----------



## brbpab94

the great and secret show Clive Barker


----------



## ekim68

Finished Inheritance yesterday and I recommend it. It's classic and I'll probably reread it in a couple of weeks after I've finished digesting it....:up:


----------



## indianacarnie

The Girl with the Long Green Heart by Lawrence Block and Hell's Pavement by Damon Knight. Both recommended for different reasons. If you like Noir then you already know about Mr. Block and nothing more needs to be said. Hell's Pavement on the other hand was an undiscovered gem for me. Have read Mr. Knight's other offering's over the years and this, though written way back in 51/53(chapters released as short stories in their own right)and finished 1955 took my breath away. I will be the first to admit Damon is not another Heinlein but the premise of this story,mind control used for corporate gain and loyalty is truly worth a read in these days of omnipresent google inspired ad.'s. Highly worth a trip to the library and/or better perhaps your local Mom and Pop second hand bookstore.


----------



## ekim68

Thanks for the tip indianacarnie....:up: I looked up Damon Knight and read a bit about him, and he's an Oregonian...:up:
I've bookmarked it for further reading....


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Mastiff by Tamora Pierce, the last book in the Beka Cooper series and I recommend it. :up: Pierce makes very good women heroes.....


----------



## valis

tell you what, Mike.........Antarctica was a surprisingly good read (put it down as I went on a MCS kick). Finished it over the weekend, solid science and it definitely brings out the beauty of the Southron Continent.

Did you hear that McCaffrey died? The Pern lady? Reckoned you probably read those a couple three times in your younger youth.


----------



## ekim68

I've got Antarctica on order now and I'm waiting on it. Yes I heard that McCaffrey passed away and I read a couple of her earlier books. Now I'm gonna have to read some more of them...(My wife read all of her books...)


----------



## eggplant43

> Mark Siegel's Moving House is a picture book about a house that decides to keep its family from moving away by aggressively lobbying the children. The night before Joey and Chloe's family are to leave their house at Number Seven Carriage Street in Foggytown, they reminisce about all the things they love about their dear old home. The house stirs itself, stretches its legs, sprouts arms, and carries the kids up to a hilltop to show them that life in Foggytown needn't be so foggy. The kids, the house, the other buildings and the streetlamps conspire together to rescue Foggytown from its fog, and they move the whole place up to the top of a hill, and the house and the family are saved.


http://boingboing.net/2011/11/30/mo..._campaign=Feed:+boingboing/iBag+(Boing+Boing)


----------



## ekim68

I reread Inheritance and still got a charge from it. What a great adventure...:up: A friend just loaned me the Bedlam's Bard series by Mercedes Lackey and since we have rain and rain on the way I'm gonna get started on it tomorrow...


----------



## valis

just picked up Red Mars for the Kindle....enjoying it again for the first time. 


But then, I dig Kim Robinson.......great writer.

And, fwiw, I've twigged about 3 people to Ender's game this past month. Dunno why, weird convergence, but I had a few spare copies, and some folks just hadn't read it.


----------



## lotuseclat79

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I just finished "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" by Stieg Larsson in three days - its almost 600 pages. What a hoot - its a thriller, murder mystery with a surprise ending.

-- Tom


----------



## ekim68

I'm rereading the Stormlord series by Glenda Larke.....Some light reading about several powerful people trying the claim the same land by mystics and military....


----------



## hotskates

I'm reading Ted Dekker's "Forbidden". Brief theme: All of the human's emotions have been removed over time except for one - fear. The hero of the book, Rom, has stumbled across the "cure" and is going about at hyperspeed to reverse everythng and bring humans back to life....with all their emotions in tact! Its a great book....I've got 30 pages to go and can already guess that it will have a happy ending


----------



## hotskates

I'm reading my first Robin Cook novel...."Death Benefit". So far I'm 5 chapters in and am loving the story. I can't wait to read more of his books. Has anyone read any of his other books that you could recommend to me?


----------



## valis

just finished 'the rule of four'...highly recommend it.......but it's not Cook.


----------



## ekim68

Just started the trilogy "The Riyria Revelations" by Michael J. Sullivan. It's about two traveling companions, a thief and a mercenary in a medieval world...


----------



## ekim68

Wow, 1,900 pages later and after a great adventure, I finished The Riyria Revelations...:up: I highly recommend it....:up:


----------



## Bush Lady

Does anyone remember the Nancy Drew Mystery's. When I was still going to school, and at Christmas my parents would buy me about 5 our 6 books. I always would read them so fast. They would say, "We just gave you these books and you have read them already.


----------



## ekim68

Nancy Drew was very popular with my sisters....:up:


----------



## valis

re-reading 'the name of the rose' by Eco....stunning read, even the second time through.


----------



## Izme

valis said:


> re-reading 'the name of the rose' by Eco....stunning read, even the second time through.


Hiya bud!! Thanks for the referral, I'll read it then suggest something abit off this thread que

Tuesday's with Morrie

by Mitch Album 

I hope all is well

><">


----------



## valis

Excellent read. Not shabby for a sports writer, eh? 

I'd put 'Rose' in my top 3 books of the 20th easily. But be warned; its rather dense.


----------



## ekim68

Just started the Landover series by Terry Brooks...So far the first book is entertaining...:up:


----------



## ekim68

Ok I'm on the third book of the Landover series and I am thoroughly pleased.. :up:


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the Landover series and it was a fun ride. I didn't think it was as good as his "Word and the Void" series...


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks, again....:up:


----------



## valis

Dang. TOTALLY forgot about that one. Guess Im hitting the used bookstore this weekend.


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> Dang. TOTALLY forgot about that one. Guess Im hitting the used bookstore this weekend.


Have to tell you, it brought tears to my eyes, yet again....:up:


----------



## valis

ray bradbury passes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury


----------



## valis

reading Winter by Deighton........excellent views of Berlin around the first 50 years of the century or so......


----------



## ekim68

I've just started the Otherland series by Tad Williams and a couple of interesting things... In the third chapter of the first book he mentions 'smart phones', 'data pads', and 'retinal displays'....And he wrote this in 1995-1996--Sixteen years before I got an iPad.....


----------



## Blackmirror

I cant wade through all those pages but im reading a song of ice and fire Grr martin
not grr but GRR lol


----------



## ekim68

ekim68 said:


> I've just started the Otherland series by Tad Williams and a couple of interesting things... In the third chapter of the first book he mentions 'smart phones', 'data pads', and 'retinal displays'....And he wrote this in 1995-1996--Sixteen years before I got an iPad.....


And not to forget the NetWorld....:up:


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> I've just started the Otherland series by Tad Williams and a couple of interesting things... In the third chapter of the first book he mentions 'smart phones', 'data pads', and 'retinal displays'....And he wrote this in 1995-1996--Sixteen years before I got an iPad.....


check it out.......

http://gizmodo.com/5315766/suspiciously-prescient-man-files-patent-for-ipod+like-device-in-1979


----------



## ekim68

Well to pick at even more nits, I remember Captain Kirk receiving an electronic Pad from Yeoman Rand with the duty roster in 1967....


----------



## valis

I definitely remember Yeoman Rand but no clue about the Ipad........


----------



## ekim68

I swear that's an iPad that Spock is signing.


----------



## hotskates

ekim68 said:


> I've just started the Otherland series by Tad Williams and a couple of interesting things... In the third chapter of the first book he mentions 'smart phones', 'data pads', and 'retinal displays'....And he wrote this in 1995-1996--Sixteen years before I got an iPad.....


Apple already had a data pad in 1987.... the Apple Newton. There were also early "portible cellular phones" prior to 1995 and considering that's all we had back then they would have been considered "Smart". There was a lot going on already in the 80's and 90's in the computer world


----------



## ekim68

Good points....:up: The series also has a battle of two OS's and range of control....


----------



## hotskates

ekim68 said:


> Good points....:up: The series also has a battle of two OS's and range of control....


 Yeah, that OS battle is still raging


----------



## ekim68

Okay, I'll give a bit more.... The second OS is an Orphin Genius who cannot be located on Earth because of security problems and is therefore sentenced to Life in Orbit....Just a Baby, alone........


----------



## hotskates

ekim68 said:


> Okay, I'll give a bit more.... The second OS is an Orphin Genius who cannot be located on Earth because of security problems and is therefore sentenced to Life in Orbit....Just a Baby, alone........


 I'm such a geek.......I thought you were still talking about computer technology stuff. ..... I thought the OS battle was Microsoft vs. iOS


----------



## ekim68

Well it would be a natural analogy I would think.....


----------



## ekim68

BTW, I was saying that in my best Sherlock Holmes voice....


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished the Otherland series by Tad Williams and although it had a fantastic ending, I think I'll probably not read it again because it broke my heart too many times during the first three books....


----------



## ekim68

Just started Innocent Mage by Karen Miller.....A fun ride....:up:


----------



## valis

In honor of Master Harrison, downloaded the Stainless Steel Rat series.....haven't read those in a bit......


----------



## ekim68

Just started reading Terry Brooks' latest, "Wards of Faerie", and so far a fascinating start...:up: Probably go through it in a couple of days....


----------



## ekim68

Just started the "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" series by Tad Williams...The Autumn rains have just started in my area so it's perfect timing to sit down to read some rather long books...


----------



## ekim68

Just started the Stormlord series by Glenda Larke. Nice time of the year for a reluctant Hero....


----------



## Blackmirror

A song of ice and fire by Mr Martin 

kept me busy since October and now re reading
its that good 

the tv series is good as well xx


----------



## ekim68

Ahah, somebody else who rereads books....:up:


----------



## valis

just finished reading 'Great Train Robbery' by Crichton; good look at inside Victorian England, complete with the criminal element. Easy read, good for a holiday.


----------



## ekim68

My Grandson's Christmas gift to me was, Redshirts by John Scalzi...:up: As soon as I finish my current adventure, I'm into it...:up:


----------



## Cymas

Just started King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. Sequel to Prince of Thorns. Despite his ruthless, callous nature, there's something in me that just can't hate Jorg, the protagonist.


----------



## hotskates

"The Judge" by Randy Singer. This author reminds me of John Grisham. This book in particular was really great and hard to put down. A dying billionaire, puts on a reality show featuring members of different religious groups. The Judge was representing the Christian group. Interesting all the way through. I highly recommend it!!!


----------



## valis

now that sounds interesting......plus I just finished a Gresham.....


----------



## valis

just picked up Foundation and it's two siblings. Reckon I'll see you guys around July.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Redshirts by John Scalzi and what a weird ride that was....It was funny in a Time-Travel kind of way...


----------



## ekim68

Just started the Iron Druid Chronicles series...I like some of these Smartmouth Hero types... However a word of note: I've started other series of books just to find out that number five isn't due out until 2015.... This time I checked and all six books are out.....


----------



## valis

sounds like a Douglas Adams trilogy.


----------



## Bush Lady

Does anyone remember the Nancy Drew Mysteries? When I was young I had a whole serious of the books.
At Christmas I would get 3 or 4 books, and it took no time at all until I had them all read.
My parents would say, "You already read all the books".


----------



## valis

yup.....I had the accompanying Hardy Boys.


----------



## eddie5659

Hmmm, well I've nearly finished Salems Lot by Stephen King.

Very good book, and yes I agree now, hi books ae far better than his films


----------



## valis

Indeed. That is one of the scariest books I've ever read.

If you like that genre, check out Straub's 'Ghost Story'; excellent, excellent tale.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the first book in the Iron Druid Chronicles and I almost laughed out loud through the whole read. :up: I have a new found respect for lawyers, especially Werewolf lawyers.... On to the next book....


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished the fifth book in the Iron Druid Chronicles and guess what? I thought the whole series was out but lo and behold the final book comes out in late June... Oh well, I've ordered another series and it's all out...:up: It's the City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and if I like it then I'm not going to the movie they're currently putting out..Seems to me that a number of movies based on certain books just don't tell the story..


----------



## Netghost56

Nice to see an Asimov fan! 

Just finished yet another Preston/Child book (they're the minds behind The Relic, which was made into a movie), Gideon's Corpse. I'm a Agent Pendergast fan but this new series with Gideon Crew isn't half-bad!


----------



## eddie5659

Just about finished with the next book, which at first I wasn't sure I would like. I thought it would be about religion etc, but its not. Very good, well written, and interesting ending.


Craig Smith - The Painted Messiah


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Belgarath the Sorcerer by David and Leigh Eddings and it was a lot of fun. Now on to the next book in the series which is from his daughter's point of view...


----------



## valis

man, I remember those from 5th grade; tore through that entire series that summer.


----------



## ekim68

Well I started with Belgarath the Sorcerer and then found out that it was the last book in the series.... Good grief, old eyes are hard to retrain... So I went and ordered the rest of the series and finished the first book today. The Pawn of Prophecy by Eddings...And I can say I'm really happy with it....:up: And, from a different perspective, not to mention the distance of Dates when the books were written....


----------



## valis

man, those take me back.....you know his wife was the co-author on those, correct?


----------



## ekim68

I saw that the books were co-written with Leigh Eddings, and I thought that she might be his daughter, given the relationship with Belgarath and Polgara. Thanks for the enlightenment...


----------



## valis

de nada....loved those books growing up....got into them the same time I got into Pern....


----------



## Netghost56

LOL I was crazy for Pern


----------



## valis

that, along with the Thomas Covenant books, are the only fantasy books to make the journey into adulthood......good writing is good writing........


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished mowing the yard and watering the flowers so it's time to jump into the second book in the Belgariad series, "Queen of Sorcery"..  I'll be reporting back after 300 or so pages....


----------



## ekim68

I'm into the fourth book now and I just have to say that I like it a lot... I'm coming from the perspective that I read the last book first and it was very confusing geography-wise... The really Cool Factor in that is that everything I suspected is being revealed....


----------



## ekim68

Still moving on with the Belgariad series and I'm beginning to wonder about the Eddings....Would love to have been a fly on the wall during one of their conversations....


----------



## ekim68

Ok, I finished the books and I have to say it was fantastic...:up: What a wild ride... That he started writing Belgariad in 1982 and finished with Belgarath in 1995 was a cool way to wrap things up...


----------



## hotskates

Today I downloaded 10 free novels from Kindle (all from Bethany house publisher)................so hard to keep up here, but I'll let you guys know if I stumble across a good read!


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished the third book of the Malloreon Series and if I thought I was tired after the Belgariad Series, sheesh, I'm exhausted after this sequel.... On to the last three books....:up:


----------



## valis

btw, Mike, he wrote a few non-fantasy books, one of them is a very interesting read (takes place in the NW)......

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/110689.The_Losers


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim, I've bookmarked that. I already decided I was gonna read more of his stuff....:up:


----------



## valis

pretty solid author........


----------



## ekim68

Ok, a question: As I'm finishing a series of books that I really like, I find that I'm reading them slower and slower to kind of savor the ending.... Does anyone else do this?


----------



## valis

yup....there's a list of books I'm not allowed to read more than once/decade, and I always find myself doing that.......


----------



## Netghost56

I've never read Chapterhouse for that very reason


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> yup....there's a list of books I'm not allowed to read more than once/decade, and I always find myself doing that.......


:up: Those decades catch up with you so don't make things so far apart....If you enjoy a book, reread it, that's my Motto, (and story), and I'm sticking with it....

BTW, I finished the Mallorean Series and I highly recommend this series....I had a lot of fun...:up:


----------



## valis

yeah, but I got one of those wacky memories, which manages to store damn near everything for about a decade....the important stuff, like my 3rd grade teacher's name stays, and the the non-important stuff, like a cancer cure, gets purged.


----------



## ekim68

Well I think I'm not quite the same, it's like RAM with me....Turn it off and it's gone... However, like Memory Exercises, if I repeat it often enough, I can remember the Plot....


----------



## valis

here ya go, Mike......this looks like it could be up your alley......

http://io9.com/your-first-look-at-the-epic-fantasy-novel-everybodys-r-600444086


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim, I'll take a look....:up:


----------



## valis

looks like it has the first chapter or so in there as well.....


----------



## ekim68

Just got caught up on calls so I'm sitting down to City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Apparently there's a movie coming out based on this so it's time for another comparison....


----------



## valis

hey Mike, you ever hear of this one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sparrow_(novel)


----------



## ekim68

Wow, looks interesting...:up: Thanks Tim. I've bookmarked that and will get back to it. I'm stacking up enough reading material to make me become 'one with the couch'....


----------



## valis

yeah, ditto here.....just when I get done with the latest trove something like this pops up.....


----------



## eddie5659

Just finished reading this:

Dean Koontz - Lightning

First time reading his books, more of a thriller/sci fi than horror. Good twist in the book, didn't see that coming.

Onto a new one, will post when read


----------



## valis

huh.....

http://www.themillions.com/2013/03/...that-correctly-predicted-the-current-day.html

also, some excellent choices at http://io9.com/what-science-fiction-author-best-describes-the-world-we-968718984


----------



## eddie5659

Interesting, kinda like a modern day Nostradamus.

Talking of which, my mum has a book about him, may try and grab it sometime


----------



## valis

as long as it doesn't mention van Doniken, I'm cool........


----------



## valis

heyya Mike, check it out......some August reading for the next 500 Augusts....

http://io9.com/all-the-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books-you-cant-mis-992935826


----------



## ekim68

Wow, thanks Tim....I'm already into Naomi Novik's 'Temeraire' series and I'm also a fan of Terry Goodkind....:up: (Now you've really loaded up my book reading list. I'm probably good through the Winter now.. )


----------



## valis

yup, ditto here.......only problem I see is THIS IS MERELY A LIST FOR AUGUST!!!!!! AUUUUGGGH!!!!!


----------



## ekim68

Well I'm finishing the last, I hope, book in the Kevin Hearne series, The Iron Druid Chronicles, and I find myself grinning ear to ear.... Yet again, and a note for some, it's Adult oriented....


----------



## valis

sometimes those are the best....Stainless Steel Rat springs to mind....


----------



## valis

Mike, was packing up some books today, came across this gem:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverlock

solid read if you've not heard of it.


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim, I've bookmarked that and I'll look into it....:up: In regards to Patto80, I read the first four books of the Game of Thrones and have the first two DVD's and I have to tell you that I actually got bored with it all. I think that some Authors get carried away with the 'same old, same old' themes and manage to get paid pretty good money for their repetitions...


----------



## dpader

*If you haven't read this one... it will blow your mind.. it's a futuristic novel with cool action in it*, http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/Scarlet/


----------



## ekim68

Just putting this here as an aside....

Books of Cities Infographic


----------



## valis

wow.....me gusta, Mike....:up:


----------



## valis

another interesting find.....http://io9.com/8-summer-sci-fi-and-fantasy-books-for-every-kind-of-fan-840433567.....

wouldn't be surprised to see 'damocles' a movie....


----------



## valis

Mike, you ever read any Blaylock?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blaylock

the Narbondo series were easily my favorites.....especially the Digging Leviathan....


----------



## ekim68

Nope, I haven't but thanks for the link Tim...(My list is growing... )


----------



## valis

yeah, funny how that happens.....

these are VERY easy reads, chockafulla great and imaginative detail, but then again, so are Crighton's, and that's a weekend fodder, at absolute best.......


----------



## ekim68

I'm gonna need a few more bookshelves pretty soon.  I have a few things on Kindle but I prefer having solid books.. (I know, trees and all, but I think pretty soon hemp is gonna save the day... )


----------



## valis

dude, HUGE fan of analog here.....got ~1k books, about 200 in hardback, and damned if I ain't going to try to take them with me......


----------



## ekim68

Right on.....! :up:


----------



## ekim68

Okay Tim, I'm going for the Blaylock's Narbondo series, although it appears that a fourth book is out....I Do wish Authors could keep it to three books, but I guess it pays the bills....


----------



## valis

yeah, but if that were the case, we'd only have the three Hitchhikers..........


----------



## ngk0585

Before you snub this - if you have any interest in what is happening today, this is a good basic course on the history of politics. Rome is very interesting if you want hear all the ludicrous things you see on TV every night played out in the real world, but worse.

Excellent performance by Mike Duncan. They are in increments of 15 - 30 minutes each and cover the entire history. Also, the author makes it entertaining with his presentation that is not dry.

It is a podcast downloadable in mp3. I put it on a portable device and play it in the car. 

Enjoy


----------



## valis

http://io9.com/all-the-books-that-will-explode-your-mind-this-fall-1167469236

check out the second entry, 'shaman'......KSR is one of my favorite authors, and that looks fantastic.


----------



## steppenwolf

Paquadez said:


> Hmm................................
> 
> Nobody reads anymore?


i should read more and less tv

i found WARLOCK by Wilbur smith on ancient Egypt


----------



## valis

not a book, but still a dang good read by a dang good writer........

http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/23/lifetimes/asi-v-fair.html


----------



## ekim68

I read Redshirts about 8 months ago and I really enjoyed it....:up: It was fun and funny....

Hugo Award Winners this year


----------



## valis

this one I am looking forward to......one of my favorite authors..

http://www.livescience.com/39363-shaman-science-kim-stanley-robinson.html


----------



## ekim68

Did that just come out today?


----------



## valis

dunno if it's out yet, but that's the guy that wrote the 'Red Mars' books, about terraforming Mars....also wrote Antarctica, and I've yet to find a better fictional account than that one......he incorporates an astounding amount of science into his books.


----------



## ekim68

Hey Tim.....

Text Analyser Reveals Emotional Temperature of Novels and Fairy Tales


----------



## valis

oh wow, that is totally cool.......

:up:

wanna run Ender's Game through it......


----------



## valis

here ya go, Mike, some winter reading for ya. 

http://io9.com/the-october-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books-you-cant-1442641897


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the 'Will of The Empress' by Tamora Pierce and it was Good fun...I know, Young readers like me, eh?


----------



## ekim68

Well I'm finally getting around to Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card...


----------



## valis

You've NEVER read that book? *SMACK*

truth told, I've lost a LOT of respect for OSC after his intensely uncomfortable homophobic rants.....I think I'm done with him.

however, he does have a few other good books out, non-sf, one is pretty creepy but still an excellent read:

"Lost Boys"


----------



## ekim68

Wow, just finished Ender's Game and it's gonna take some time to digest it....


----------



## valis

pretty solid, eh?

it represents Dune in series content; this hit, blew the ears off of everyone, then he wrote a bazillion sequels.


----------



## ekim68

I have three of the sequels but I'm not gonna dig in just yet. I just received a couple of prequels of the Riyria Chronicles by Michael Sullivan so I'll read those first...


----------



## valis

another dump for you, Mike.



http://imgur.com/0cLXg


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim, although I've already read His Majesty's Dragon series, it looks like my table's gonna fill up again...


----------



## ekim68

ekim68 said:


> I have three of the sequels but I'm not gonna dig in just yet. I just received a couple of prequels of the Riyria Chronicles by Michael Sullivan so I'll read those first...


Ok, just finished the Chronicles and subsequently/consequently polished off the Revelations and I recommend it because of all the Heroes..


----------



## ekim68

Well I started the Belgariad Series again while waiting on Isles of Glory by Glenda Larke that I ordered. I will totally wade through this with a smile on my face....


----------



## valis

man,I need to track those down......I think they are worthy of the bookcase......

ever read 'Lord Valentine's Castle'? I'm sure you have; got into that series about the same age as Belgariad, both are permanently intertwined in my melon.....


----------



## ekim68

Thanks for that Tim. It's on the List....


----------



## valis

Mike, I'm astounded that one made it past you......that is a bet I would have lost 10/10 times....

I loved it. In a way, it reminded me of Pern.......but I'll let you make your calls.


----------



## valis

another list, this one a bit older, but it's got some stellar names on there that I'd forgotten about.

http://hilobrow.com/2013/11/13/fantasy-novels/


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> man,I need to track those down......I think they are worthy of the bookcase......
> 
> ever read 'Lord Valentine's Castle'? I'm sure you have; got into that series about the same age as Belgariad, both are permanently intertwined in my melon.....


Ok it's gone off the list to being on order...Looks good.. Thanks...


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished reading The Mallorean and I'm starting in on the Isles of Glory by Glenda Larke. I really liked her Stormlord series and the heroes in those books....


----------



## ekim68

Hey Tim, have you read the Gormenghast Novels by Mervyn Peake?


----------



## valis

I have not.....I had the first one in my paws years, years ago....must have been late seventies? I was reading Varley's 'Gaea' trilogy and stumbled over a review of Germenghast in Omni mag.......man, does that bring memories.


----------



## ekim68

I've got them here, but my Wife had a tough time getting through it. And she's much more of a reader than me... I have some others right now but Tad Williams had praise for it so I'll eventually get to it... (And, BTW, my post #298 wasn't quite right because I've decided to follow up The Mallorean with Belgarath The Sorcerer which kind of wraps up the story...Fascinating dialogue throughout....:up: )


----------



## valis

did you ever chew through Varley's trilogy? You may enjoy that; more sci-fi, but still some excellent fantasy elements as well.


----------



## valis

hope you didn't have too much planned for this month, Mike.....found a wiki page that has ALL the stars ever listed in fiction......rotsa ruck...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_and_planetary_systems_in_fiction


----------



## ralfy

Mishima's _Sea of Fertility_ tetralogy, Fowles _The Magus_, Galeano's _Memory of Fire_ trilogy


----------



## ekim68

Hey Tim, here's another list: 

The 12 Greatest Fantasy Books Of The Year

(We have The Wheel of Time series, but I haven't read it yet..)


----------



## valis

sweet......that 'promise of blood' looks good.....I'm a sucker for steampunk.


----------



## ekim68

Well I started the Isles of Glory series by Glenda Larke a week ago and it started out slow...It did establish the different characters for the Quest, however....Now I'm on the second book, Gilfeather, and he is a fascinating person...I'm diggin' it...


----------



## valis

Heyya Mike, check this out.

http://io9.com/dont-expect-to-figure-out-gene-wolfes-new-novel-the-f-1484516074


----------



## ekim68

Wow, that looks intriguing Tim....Gonna add it to the list...


----------



## valis

Mike, check this out....

http://www.fictionbundle.com/

not a bad deal for 6 bucks.....


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished the second book in the Isles of Glory series and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. On to the third book....


----------



## ekim68

Well I've read half of them....

10 sci-fi novels that'll change how you look at the world forever


----------



## valis

ditto here......'Algernon' is an absolute classic.


----------



## valis

wow......talk about memories......hadn't even thought of L'Engle in a decade and now this.....

http://io9.com/which-science-fiction-classic-is-best-read-before-the-a-1497409518

get ready to get whacked in the memory zone, hoss.....


----------



## ekim68

You kind of knew this was coming, eh? 

Computer Algorithm Seeks To Crack Code Of Fiction Bestsellers



> The English novelist W. Somerset Maugham once said that there are three rules for writing novels.
> 
> "Unfortunately," he added, "no one knows what they are."
> 
> Three computer scientists at Stony Brook University in New York think they found some rules through a computer program that might predict which books will be successful. The algorithm had as much as 84 percent accuracy when applied to already published manuscripts.
> 
> If so, it comes much too late for the more than 20 book editors who turned down J.K. Rowling's first manuscript about a boy wizard named Harry Potter.


----------



## valis

just found my Silver John collection at a used book store......great read, guitars and folklore. Cannot go wrong...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_John

good luck on finding them.......bit rare.


----------



## ekim68

Looks fascinating, added to my ever extending list...


----------



## valis

they are a rough find......found my set in portland (not powells, and not surprised about that; great store but not that good on rarities such as silver john or the white hart) and that's the only hardcover books that I kept the dustjackets on......they are rather rare, and damn well worth the looking......vastly under-rated author, IMO.


----------



## ekim68

As an aside, one of my clients is a rare books dealer so I may enlist his help... His business is "Ezra The Bookfinder"..


----------



## valis

this guy?

http://www.ezrabook.com/cgi-bin/ezra/index.html

if so, I may have some requests........and yes, I'll handle postage.......

dude, that may be an excellent job to fall into, you ever realize?


----------



## ekim68

Yep, that's him and I just got back from doing a printer repair for him.. I've got to head out again right now but I mentioned Silver John to him and he hadn't heard of the book...I think he's got an 800 number so I'll get back to you..


----------



## valis

manly wade wellman.......well read author, and silver john was a series of short stories originally....if you don't mind, see if he's heard of the White Hart by ACC...that is sorta my barometer for bookfinders.....

still, I need to look into that job.......


----------



## ekim68

I'll see if he's knows about White Hart by ACC soon because I'm trying to sell him a printer....


----------



## valis

Hah...that was funny. Let me know if i can assist and REALLY let me know of he finds either of them....if he can I got a list....


----------



## ekim68

Well today I finished the "Isles of Glory" trilogy and I thoroughly enjoyed the third book...I will read this series again sometime...:up: (Now to get on to the list that Tim has compiled on my bookmarks.... )


----------



## valis

chewing through Gibson's Sprawl trilogy currently; if you've not read them, Mike, I'd definitely recommend them. The first book, Neuromancer, won the Triple Crown; Hugo, Nebula, and PKD award, and it was his debut novel, I believe. Also the book that introduced 'cyberspace' to the world.

I'd classify it as 'steampunk', but it falls nicely into hard sci-fi as well. If I were to relate it to a movie, it would be very similar in attitude to Blade Runner. Dunno if your taste runs to that genre, but an excellent read.


----------



## ekim68

2013 Nebula Nominees Announced


----------



## ekim68

Hey Tim, after reading a bit about the Sprawl Trilogy I'm gonna order it as soon as I finish The Hereafter Gang by Neal Barrett Jr.


----------



## valis

awesome.....let me know what you think of it.....

Off to check out Neal Barrett Jr.......


----------



## ekim68

Just came across this and it looks like Amazon offers a Kindle version. I think I'm gonna order it because it has several of my favorite Authors...


----------



## ekim68

Hold on, a little interruption.... Just received a copy of Havenstar by Glenda Larke and I'm digging in....She has recently become my favorite Hero maker.....


----------



## ekim68

Arthur C Clarke Award - shortlist 2014



> The winner will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday May 1st at the Royal Society, London, and will be presented with a cheque for £2,014 (approx US$3,338) and the award itself, a commemorative bookend.


----------



## ekim68

Ok Tim, I have a copy of Neuromancer ordered and in the mail...


----------



## valis

let me know, Mike...I believe you will enjoy it.....


----------



## ekim68

Well I finished Havenstar and I would recommend it although I have to say it's more for adults.... On to the Mirage Makers trilogy by Larke.....:up:


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the second book in the Mirage Makers series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. On to the last book, Song of the Shiver Barrens..... And after that, on to Neuromancer....


----------



## ekim68

Locus Awards Finalists

One of the books on the Young Adult list is Homeland by Cory Doctorow has been recommended to me. Anyone have an opinion about it?


----------



## valis

I've read Cory before, and not having heard about Homeland, I'd still recommend it highly......


----------



## brettmurray

ekim68 said:


> Ok Tim, I have a copy of Neuromancer ordered and in the mail...


Neuromancer is a great read


----------



## ekim68

ekim68 said:


> Just finished the second book in the Mirage Makers series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. On to the last book, Song of the Shiver Barrens..... And after that, on to Neuromancer....


Just finished the third book and I'm gonna take a day or two to digest it.....(And I know I said I would jump into Neuromancer, however I just received the fifth book of the Old Man's War series, and hmm  )


----------



## ekim68

Ok here you go Tim.....The copy of Neuromancer that I have states on the front cover that it's the 20th anniversary edition and it is dated 2004. Included was a new introduction by the Author and it was dated May 17, 2004 and in my world Timing is Everything, sometimes.... Right now I've got to head out on a call but tomorrow, May 17th, I'm gonna start it in earnest as soon as I get back from helping to plant our Community Garden....


----------



## valis

I have a feeling you will be finishing that a bit sooner than expected.....


----------



## ekim68

I'm half way through it and so far it reminds me of a combination of Otherland and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls...

I'm gonna be doing some planting tomorrow and after that I think I'll have time to finish it...BTW, is it a stand alone book?


----------



## valis

nope, it's the first of a trilogy.......btw, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls is one of my all-time favorites, all-genre.....love that book.


----------



## ekim68

Well I finished Neuromancer and I'm gonna take a few days to digest it...Easy to see why it's a Classic..


----------



## valis

told ya it wouldn't take that long........

really glad you enjoyed it, and also glad that I managed to turn you onto a new author.....another classic is 'snow crash'...comPLETELY different writing style, however.....


----------



## ekim68

Actually I have read Snow Crash as per your recommendation from a year or so ago. Thanks again for that by the way..

Have you read the Otherland series by Tad Williams?


----------



## valis

I tried.....I could not get into the first one.......reckon I should give it another shot?


----------



## ekim68

It's a tome for sure, but when you have the time it's a good ride. It's a four book series but if you read the first and last you'll get the gist of it....Shhh, don't tell the purists....


----------



## ekim68

Decided for some light reading/rereading right now so I've started The Golden Compass series by Philip Pullman. :up: I forgot how much this story pulled me in....


----------



## valis

no pun intended?


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> no pun intended?


Naturally....


----------



## ekim68

Well that was quick... I've just ordered The Tamuli series by David Eddings because of another recommendation.


----------



## ekim68

While I'm waiting on The Tamuli series I decided to do a quick read with Polgara the Sorceress and I got a big kick out of this short paragraph on page 241...


> "Thank you father. Now, go to the guardroom and incapacitate the duke's bodyguards. Then start working on your speech while I get on with overthrowing the government."


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished Polgara and guess what? I'm gonna reread the Belgariad series because of all the wonderful characters and the Quest....(I'll get to The Tamuli series afterwards... )


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished The Mallorean and I'm glossy-eyed all over.....What a Quest....:up:


----------



## valis

heyya Mike, may want to check this out.....I've got like 16 of those books on there......and I've at least read all of them save the H Potter, Hunger Games, and Game of Thrones stuff....

http://io9.com/21-books-that-changed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-forev-1610590701


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim. I've read a good many of them too and there are a couple I'm gonna look in to...:up: Right now I'm in the middle of Elenium by David Eddings and it's a fun ride.....


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished Elenium and I highly recommend it...:up: Not only was the story great, but the humor had me smiling every other page....

(I even laughed out loud several times.. )


----------



## valis

by the by, I've heard yet another rumor that the Dragonrider series may be making an attempt to get to the big screen.......


----------



## ekim68

I heard that too, but nowadays I'm kind of skeptical about good books making it to the movies. Eragon comes to mind in that the movie was absolutely terrible.....


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished Tamuli by David Eddings and another thumbs up to this Author...:up: It was a Great Quest...


----------



## ekim68

I've ordered the Dragons of Eden and although it's not really Fiction, it might be to a lot of people....


----------



## ekim68

Coming around again....

21 Books That Changed Science Fiction And Fantasy Forever



> Speculative fiction is the literature of change and discovery. But every now and then, a book comes along that changes the rules of science fiction and fantasy for everybody. Certain great books inspire scores of authors to create something new. Here are 21 of the most influential science fiction and fantasy books.


----------



## ekim68

2014 Hugo Award Winners



> The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, Loncon 3, has announced the 2014 Hugo Award winners. 3587 valid ballots were received and counted in the final ballot.


----------



## valis

Hey Mike...may want to check out this read.....found out a few surprising things I did not know.....

http://io9.com/the-eccentric-polish-count-who-influenced-classic-sfs-g-1631001935


----------



## ekim68

Whoa, good stuff Tim.....I'm gonna have to reread this later after more coffee....


----------



## valis

ditto....not a huge fan of Hubbard, but as far as I am concerned, I totally grok Heinlein.


----------



## ekim68

I almost grabbed Stranger in a Strange Land now that you mentioned 'grok'.  However I just ordered Lock In by Scalzi and Blindsight by Watts on a recommendation so in a couple of days you'll find me in my Reading Chair...


----------



## valis

let me know how that Scalzi turns out....I've a few of his laying around I've not cracked yet.....


----------



## valis

Sorry, Mike, found another one.....

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/09/books-hidden-alternative-london-magical-doorway-stories


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> I almost grabbed Stranger in a Strange Land now that you mentioned 'grok'.  However I just ordered Lock In by Scalzi and Blindsight by Watts on a recommendation so in a couple of days you'll find me in my Reading Chair...


trippy......look what was the lede on io9 this morning......

http://io9.com/lock-in-is-one-of-john-scalzis-most-accessible-and-rel-1626718174


----------



## ekim68

My Grandson is a huge fan of Scalzi and follows him on Twitter and his own blog site so he keeps me up to date....:up: (As a matter of fact, I believe that my copies of the Old Man Wars series now belongs to him... )


----------



## valis

this is pretty cool, especially with Gaiman presenting it.....The Left Hand Of Darkness totally blew me away when I was a wee lad....

http://io9.com/lifetime-achievement-award-goes-to-a-totally-deserving-1633378960


----------



## ekim68

I plan on reading The Left Hand again some day. :up: Very introspective....Just finished The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen and it is a Good Story....I believe it's gonna continue for a few more books and I'm looking forward to them...

(Lock In was supposed to be here today, but no, and I like the Books more than the Kindle.. )


----------



## ekim68

Ok, I got through half of 'Lock In' today and tomorrow I'm gonna finish it.....You'll like it Tim....Good stuff...:up:


----------



## ekim68

Well I finished Lock In and it was a Wild and Fun ride....I think Scalzi will probably be up for an award for this one...:up:


----------



## ekim68

Tomorrow I start Blindsight by Watts and although I got it on a recommendation, my Wife couldn't get into it and we normally like the same kind of stuff... Oh well....BTW I read that Lock In got their option picked up by one of the Movie or TV companies. It has to be rated R or above just because of the language...


----------



## valis

yeah, read that as well last night....I just hope it's done correctly. Seen a few too many flops on the road for books to movies...


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> Sorry, Mike, found another one.....
> 
> http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/09/books-hidden-alternative-london-magical-doorway-stories


Whoa, just missed this one, and thanks....:up: I dug into Blindsight and after six chapters I bailed. I might try it later but it didn't capture me just now....


----------



## valis

thanks for the info, Mike, as I was looking at that one.....you read Gaiman's Neverwhere, and if so, any input on that beast?


----------



## ekim68

I haven't read Neverwhere but it's on my list as is Stoneheart...I'm taking a break from anything heavy right now and I'm reading Tricksters Choice by Pierce for some light spy hero stuff....


----------



## valis

Tricksters Choice.....by....Pierce......

why does that ring a bell?


----------



## valis

ah yes........that is why........


----------



## ekim68

Ha ha ha....Very good....


----------



## ekim68

Well I just received Neverwhere in the mail and I'm gonna dig in when I get back from taking my car to the shop. (I like the little review from USA Today on the front of the book--"Delightful....Inventively horrific." )


----------



## valis

sounds like my sort of book.... 

Let me know what you think of it, Mike....


----------



## ekim68

Finished the first half today...It's a wild ride but captivating....I'll give my full review in a day or three...


----------



## ekim68

Hey Tim, have you read anything from Mercedes Lackey?


----------



## valis

I tried, but that was after I abandoned fantasy for hard sf.....couldn't get into her style, unfortunately......


----------



## ekim68

Well I finished Neverwhere and it was a strange adventure with enough curves to make you dizzy. All in all I liked it and will probably read it again and I think I'll look up some more books from Gaiman....


----------



## ekim68

Maybe the Cutest Science Fiction Book Ever



> In 1931, Czech author Josef Hais Týnecký and illustrator O. Stáfl published the children's novel The Moon and Beyond. It's the story of a group of beetles who take a tour of the planets of the solar system. I can't really say much about the plot, my knowledge of Czech being limited to nothing, but it's the pictures that matter.


----------



## valis

nice.....wished I'd found that one when Le Twit was a bit smaller.......


----------



## valis

here ya go, Mike.....latest from W Gibson.

http://io9.com/the-future-is-a-lonely-place-in-william-gibsons-the-pe-1649933866


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim, I've got it bookmarked....I'm currently rereading The Word and the Void series by Terry Brooks...Talk about your Dark-End-of-the-World scenario.....


----------



## valis

Terry Brooks....man, that brings back some memories......


----------



## ekim68

I actually wrote a song about one of his books and it may be completed some day.....I think it will be the last song I write with lyrics....Mostly it's the music for me....
That being said, I just ordered the Mage Wars series by Lackey because I liked the Collegian Chronicles by her....:up:


----------



## valis

nice, Mike....no clue you wrote as well.....


----------



## ekim68

Well I've had problems with lyrics most of my life and I'll never be mistaken for a poet... However, this is the chorus line...


----------



## steppenwolf

Paquadez said:


> Hmm................................
> 
> Nobody reads anymore?


i was thinking of reading john le carre


----------



## valis

Mikey!!!






just shared this around the office......:up:


----------



## ekim68

Right on....:up: I'm working on a few more....


----------



## valis

looking for some original Vallejo?

http://io9.com/glory-and-thunder-you-could-own-these-original-boris-v-1652982817


----------



## ekim68

Have you ever smiled or laughed while reading certain books? I'm rereading Tamuli by David Eddings and at times I start laughing out loud especially when the Church Knights have conversations about Relative Morality and Theology....


----------



## valis

oh yes indeed......not to Eddings, but ol' Douglas has had me in stitches with others just staring at me......

there's been a few others. Probably the funniest thing I've ever read was by Dave Barry....I'll see if I can find it......


----------



## valis

ah, yes......laughing now.....

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/dave-barry/article1937277.html


----------



## valis

http://books.google.com/books?id=Dl...q=dave barry on dogs hurricane andrew&f=false

scroll up to where the chapter starts (False Alarm) and read......that one, and the one above, are probably the hardest I've ever laughed at anything written, with Douglas coming in a close third.....


----------



## ekim68

While I'm waiting on a couple of books I've ordered, I decided to reread Stranger in a Strange Land and what a treat. It's been almost forty years since I read it and in a way it's vaguely similar to Lock In by Scalzi and there's a lot of humorous dialogue similar to David Eddings in his 'Quest' books.....


----------



## valis

read that earlier this year.....Heinlein ranks waaaaaaaay up there on my list........


----------



## valis

um, yeah.........so this is happening.

http://io9.com/hbo-will-make-asimovs-foundation-with-interstellars-jon-1657018306

not entirely certain that one will translate well to the big screen.......it could, but it's going to take a steady hand to do so.


----------



## ekim68

I don't think I've ever read Foundation but it's on my list. I have to say though that I don't think putting Science Fiction Books into Movies is a good thing, at least in the last twenty years or so...I've been disappointed in more than a few...


----------



## valis

foundation is, well, awesome. Just awesome. IMO, it ranks up there with Stranger simply for the societal observations both Asimov and Heinlein spotted......


----------



## ekim68

Well I'm half way through Stranger in a Strange Land and it's like discovering it for the first time. I completely forgot, not unusual for me, about most of the book....It's a fine ride...:up:


----------



## ekim68

Okay I just finished Stranger in a Strange Land and I think I know why I liked it so much about forty years ago....Heinlein was a Dirty Old Man for a long time, IMHO, of course... It kind of reminded me of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' in an artistic way....


----------



## valis

he was a dirty old man only by societal standards, Mike.....by his, he was just living.....which is sorta the _entire damn pretense of that book!!!_


----------



## Brigham

ekim68 said:


> I don't think I've ever read Foundation but it's on my list. I have to say though that I don't think putting Science Fiction Books into Movies is a good thing, at least in the last twenty years or so...I've been disappointed in more than a few...


"I robot" is a case in point. I thought that it was just space opera, and very poorly done anyway. The book was a lot of short stories.


----------



## valis

it was supposed to be a collection of short stories......you check out Caves of Steel? You may enjoy that more......


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> he was a dirty old man only by societal standards, Mike.....by his, he was just living.....which is sorta the _entire damn pretense of that book!!!_


Did a Wiki check on him and it seems he was at the forefront of the Free Love Era...


----------



## valis

Mike, dunno if you've heard of this author, but io9 seems pretty high on her.......

http://io9.com/why-tamora-pierce-sh...ite-author-1660018656/1660238098/+charliejane

it's more fantasy than SF, so I've _not_ heard of her.


----------



## ekim68

She's one of my all time favorites with respect to writing about Women Heroes. I think I've read everything she's written and at one time she had an interactive web site titled 'Sheroes', but I think she's not so much involved anymore. Fantasy for sure, but good stories...:up: My two favorite characters that she introduced are Keladry of Mindelan and Beka Cooper...


----------



## valis

Keladry was discussed at io9, I believe......sounds excellent......:up:


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the Mage Wars trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and I've started reading The Lascar's Dagger by Glenda Larke and it's off to a good start....:up: (Now back to my reading chair.. )


----------



## valis

niiiice.......I've discovered a new author, Rick Riordan........not sci fi or fantasy, but a good read nonetheless.....


----------



## ekim68

My Grandson introduced me to Riordan and I've had fun reading some of his books.. :up:


----------



## valis

His Tres Navarre is what Im working now.

That, and the Caves of Steel trilogy again.....i do believe Im beginning to circle Foundation again.....


----------



## ekim68

Thanks for reminding me about Foundation....I've never read it and I'm gonna drop some hints about a Christmas gift...


----------



## valis

heyya Mike, pretty sure I've found Douglas Adams' successor......reading this currently, and laughing about every dang page......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb:_The_Gospel_According_to_Biff,_Christ's_Childhood_Pal


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim, I'll check that out...


----------



## valis

mike, have you read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz? I keep hovering around it, cannot get into it. Had this issue with Eco, finally broke through and loved it.


----------



## ekim68

Wow, looks good. I've bookmarked it...:up:


----------



## valis

Nuts. 

Was hoping you had read it. From what I can glean methinks we will both like it.


----------



## ekim68

Yep, it's on my list now. As an aside I received as a gift 'The Dragon's Path' by Daniel Abraham and I might disappear for a while...


----------



## valis

Im going to get back to you onthat. I work with an italian great grandmother who devours fantasy as you do; pretty sure but not certain I saw that on her desk.

Only book i got this year was The Punch, about kermit washington and popovich. Im not a hoops fan so its all new to me.


----------



## valis

here ya go, Mike......

http://io9.com/mind-blowing-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books-to-watch-1679067009


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim, I've bookmarked this....:up: Some of my favorite authors are in this group...


----------



## valis

this one caught my eye.....I've heard fantastic stuff about this one......

http://www.amazon.com/The-Mechanical-Alchemy-Wars/dp/0316248002?tag=io9amzn-20&ascsubtag=[r|forums.techguy.org[t|link[p|1679067009[a|0316248002[au|5717343349271019063

as if ANY of those are going to stink........


----------



## valis

smoking deals on Amazon today, and today only......check it...

http://deals.kinja.com/load-up-on-c...-this-one-day-sale-1679197770/+shepmcallister


----------



## ekim68

Well I'm over half way through The Dragon's Path by Abraham and it took a good long while to get addicted. For the first third of the book there were so many names and places thrown at me I had to reread each paragraph several times, but now that I've got an overall look at the total scenario it's got me. There are three more books in the series and I've decided to order them...


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> Did a Wiki check on him and it seems he was at the forefront of the Free Love Era...


crap, can't believe I missed this one......

oh yeah....he was a hoot.....remember I Will Fear No Evil? Man, not only absolutely groundbreaking for it's time, but in all sooth, it's a damn good story....

He was a special unit, in my opinion. Not many fit to walk his, or for that matter, his wife Ginny's, shoes. I can't say who is my favorite sci fi author of all time; PKD, imo, is a philosopher, and as he's my favorite author period, he's out as sci fi.

So I turn to the big ones; Clarke, Asimov, Bradbury, and my favorite hard sci fi author, R. A. Heinlein.

I'm just going to say I found 'Number Of The Beast' about 36 minutes after hitting puberty, been hooked since.


----------



## ekim68

Number of the Beast, eh? That's sitting in a bookcase around here and I haven't read it... I agree that I Will Fear No Evil was a lot of fun.... (Heinlein's book writing kind of reminds me of Les Paul's guitar playing in a way...)


----------



## valis

nice analogy.....:up:


----------



## LauraMJ

ekim68 said:


> Just finished the Mage Wars trilogy by Mercedes Lackey )


Pretty much every book in her Valdamar series is an excellent book. I really enjoy her writing.
Do get the rest of the books when you can. There are A LOT of them.


----------



## valis

Indeed. 'Prolific', with both her and McCaffrey, a minor understatement. 

Good to see you in the OTHER library.


----------



## KomputerKid

Any one else here a fan of Michael Connelly or J. A. Janse? I love detective series.


----------



## valis

Yup and yup....love them both. Love Elmore Leonard as well for the neo-noir stuff, and Hiassen for the comedic detective.....all good...

If you ever read Percy Jackson, that author (Rick Riordan) also has an adult seriesabout a PI by the name of Navarre...blew through the entire collection in like six months....dude can write.


----------



## KomputerKid

Michael Connelly has a new one out in the Harry Bosch series called Burning Room. I'm hoping to get it for my birthday next month. Valis, I think you'd love Robert Ludlim's books. I may have misspelled his name but he's a great spy type author.


----------



## valis

Kid.....remember......i was born to a world that had never put a man on the moon. Im old and yes you misspelled Ludlum' name.....interesting fact, he was the first Ti-D-Bowl man.


Ask your grandparents who that was. 

FYI; Bourne Identity is in my top 3 all time espionage. Day Of The Jackal and Smiley's People are the only two that top it. 

Ludlums second best? Matarese Circle. That said, ask your 'rents first; dang if im going to corrupt a youth other than mine.


----------



## ekim68

LauraMJ said:


> Pretty much every book in her Valdamar series is an excellent book. I really enjoy her writing.
> Do get the rest of the books when you can. There are A LOT of them.


Right on Laura....:up: I will eventually get them all...I accidentally started in the middle of the series and now I'm going to go chronologically...


----------



## KomputerKid

ekim68 said:


> Right on Laura....:up: I will eventually get them all...I accidentally started in the middle of the series and now I'm going to go chronologically...


Who is the author and what kind of books are they?


----------



## valis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes_Lackey

Brilliant woman. I like Ursula LeGuin more, but then Left Hand Of Darkness.....well, that book ranks waaaaaay up there.....talking Heinlein and Asimov, imo.


----------



## ekim68

She is Mercedes Lackey and Fantasy is the genre....She's on her way to pass Isaac Asimov's total number of books.. 
Whoa Tim posted at the almost same time...


----------



## valis

(A la wilder and pryor)


"Thats right......we BAD"


----------



## ekim68

I liked the Left Hand of Darkness too and I enjoyed the EarthSea Cycle series....:up: (They made a terrible movie of it though.. :down: )


----------



## valis

Left Hand, for me, follows only 3 hard sci fi books; Heinleins Number Of The Beast (only book Ive ever felt compelled to rewrite the ending), Asimovs Foundation, and Anthonys Macroscope.

KK, you would probably enjoy that last one. My son loves the fact that I still havethe copy i was photoed with being a nerd in jr high.


----------



## ekim68

ekim68 said:


> Number of the Beast, eh? That's sitting in a bookcase around here and I haven't read it... I agree that I Will Fear No Evil was a lot of fun.... (Heinlein's book writing kind of reminds me of Les Paul's guitar playing in a way...)


Found it! :up: I found the copy of The Number of The Beast....Thanks Tim, I won't be around much tomorrow....


----------



## valis

W00t! CanNOT wait for the ekimReview. Man I hope you likee.  :up:


----------



## ekim68

As an aside, the print is smaller in this older copy and I'm gonna have scrunch my eyes more..


----------



## LauraMJ

ekim68 said:


> Right on Laura....:up: I will eventually get them all...I accidentally started in the middle of the series and now I'm going to go chronologically...


Well, she sort of started in the middle, herself, lol. So most of us that started with the first books of that series she put out, started in the middle, too. 

Honestly, I read them as they came out, so if you read them according to publishing date, it's fine.....in fact, for some, it's kinda neat to read them later (like the "mage winds" and the "Griffon" sets). But there is a chronological date in most of the books that you can read them in order of when the events in the books occurred.

As valis said, the Dragon Rider books of Anne McCaffery are outstanding. There are a lot in that series, too. As a side note, though, I do not particularly like the later books in the series when her son became co-writer and then writer. IMO, they are not anywhere near as good as Anne's.


----------



## valis

Agreed.


----------



## ekim68

Well I'm about a hundred pages into The Number of the Beast and it is fun, fun, fun.... I like his style of sexual innuendo and tart retorts from his characters...:up: I already have a favorite, so far, line on page fifty-five:


> Lack of data never justifies a conclusion.


----------



## valis

tellin ya, Mike.......there's a reason that one tops a ton of my lists...... Freaking stoked that _I_ turned _you_ onto a book. 

Made my day.


----------



## ekim68

Well I had some calls today but I did get in about fifty pages and I have a new favorite word....



> floccinaucinihilipilification


At first I didn't think it was a real word and then I looked it up....:coolL


----------



## KomputerKid

How much profanity are in Mercedes Lackey's books? To me too much swearing makes it less enjoyable.


----------



## ekim68

Lackey isn't so bad, but you should steer clear of Heinlein and Abraham for now...


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> Well I had some calls today but I did get in about fifty pages and I have a new favorite word....
> 
> At first I didn't think it was a real word and then I looked it up....:coolL


huh.....surprised you'd never heard of that, Mike.....think my first was ye olde spelling bee, but who knows....

oi...hope you are enjoying it. Knee-deep in Asimov still, but starting to sniff around Starship Troopers.....which is usually a sign of an impending few months of realizing what I hack I am.....


----------



## ekim68

As an aside, according to one source it is the second longest word in the English Language....


----------



## valis

KomputerKid said:


> How much profanity are in Mercedes Lackey's books? To me too much swearing makes it less enjoyable.


weyall now......this here could get interesting. 

My young friend, ask your parents. That's it. I let my son read stuff he probably shouldn't, but then again, I was reading waaay above my pay grade by 7 or so...and THAT said, of course I realize he's 10.

It starts and ends with the parents. If you want a very, very solid fantasy AND sci fi series, you could do far worse than Piers Anthony's Mage series; interestingly enough, that was _the_ series that compelled me to write my first (and to date, only) computer game.

It was in BASIC. It stunk.  But it sank the hook.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprentice_Adept

just as an aside, two other good YA books I try to read every few years are Z for Zacharia and Emergence. The latter is, well, pretty amazing. If anyone doesn't learn about 8 things from that book, well, they just didn't read it.

and lastly, L'Engle....have you heard of her? After William Goldman, I believe that pretty much anyone from 10-15 needs to read A Wrinkle In Time.

warned ya.....this could get interesting......


----------



## ekim68

I, for one, would like to see your computer game if it's still available..... Just from an old geek's point of view of history....


----------



## valis

dude, that was 82....maybe 81....that's as gone as, well.....

okay, you want to laugh at me, Mike? 

I remember the song that was huge when I wrote that. Hint; remember Kim Carnes?



yeah, that one is gone. and again, it was horrid. I may be a lot of things but a coder ain't one of them. 

Any input on L'Engle?


----------



## valis

best I got on short notice, Mike.

https://timothypierce.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/programming/


----------



## ekim68

Wow, thanks for that Tim, I'm gonna review it later, but Kim Carnes?  She almost skipped my memory.... Nothing like Music to place a Time, eh?


----------



## valis

Yeah it was a while ago....pretty sure you canremember 1981.....man, was all of 13. Had _just_ discovered Xanth (Proton led to Xanth to 0X to Macroscope....still read the last two pretty regularly...remind me to find that pic of me and macroscope; i know its been posted here).

KK, both the latter books would be very good to have your parents check out. Piers is an excellent and extremely intelligent author, but he can run rough a la heinlein.

You want a book, HARD sci fi, that I guarantee you will enjoy? As in, if Im wrong, I will buy you a book of your and your parents choice and, well, not HAND deliver it, but at least get it delivered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_White_Hart

That book has gotten me into more trouble.....


----------



## ekim68

Actually I can remember 1981, we lived on Bond Lane with four Cedar Trees above 90 feet...And they were beautiful...:up:


----------



## ekim68

And at that time, Apple put a commercial on TV with an Athletic Girl running and finally throwing something that smashed a glass, or similar, screen and declared something like, 'Think Differently'....I know I'll be corrected....


----------



## valis

Oh wow....totally forgot Apple Girl....wasnt that eventually linked with Gilliam's Brazil?


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> Oh wow....totally forgot Apple Girl....wasnt that eventually linked with Gilliam's Brazil?


In what way?


----------



## valis

Director of the commercial worked on the film, or viceversa.....i think. Could be completely wrong....the 80s were, well, interesting.


----------



## ekim68

The 80's were just fine, thank you....


----------



## valis

Agreeance.


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished The Number of the Beast and I'm gonna have to hold my head with my hands to keep my brain from exploding... It was a wild ride and thanks Tim, by the way, when was the last time you read it?


----------



## valis

July. That book, the other damn book with Pixel, and the Stand are my favorite long works of fiction. As such, hard rule that 5 years has to pass between re-readings. Stupid, eh? 

My friend, Ive had a baaad week so far and its all of Tuesday. Reading your reply equals everything out. Thanks Mike. 



Emphasis on the other damn book.....tell you what, ol Bob can spin a yarn. As those are the only three books to move me to tears, yeah, they are special to me. Best books ever written? Nope. Ive read better books.

But of all that Ive read, ALL that Ive read, those are my favorites and it gives me a stupid amount of pleasure, even at my ripe age, to share great yarns. 

Long story short, Mike? Thanks for not reading it until now.


----------



## ekim68

Actually I'll probably reread it again just to catch up on the vocabulary and such...:up: (But not before another twenty or thirty books, I expect.... )


----------



## Pyrofeline

Lately, I've been spending my time between several series: The "In Death" series by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) and the Goldy Bear Culinary Myseries by Diane Mott Davidson. The Goldy Bear series is pretty unique as she sprinkles recipes the protaganist uses throughout the novel. My aunt and I are wanting to throw a party sometime using the recipes from the book. 

I've always been a voracious reader; preferring to be inside reading as a kid. Dad would take us to the library and I'd come home with a stack of books taller than me. They would all be read by the time we went to the library the following week. 

The hobby did fall to the wayside a bit as I was working 2 jobs for a few years. Now that I'm back to a single source of employment, I'm enjoying having the extra time to read again.

I've also recently finished the first edit (2nd read) of my husband's first novel. This is an exciting journey for us as well.


----------



## ekim68

Curious as to what genre your husband's book is...And what do you look for in editing the novel?


----------



## KomputerKid

I have that series too (J. D. Robb)


----------



## ekim68

Hey Tim, have you ever read this? Someone recommended it to me...


----------



## valis

about a gazillion times....he ranks pretty high in my book, the Mars Trilogy is another one to read once a decade....yeah, Mike, I'd highly, highly recommend that series. As with the Mars Trilogy, they don't necessarily have to be read in order, but it is very key to remember that KSR thinks on his feet, and as such builds on ideas that he has hatched in previous books.

He's a very groundbreaking forward thinker; I'd probably label him transhumanist if I believed in labels. His Mars works are astounding in how they describe terraforming in real, science-based fact. He just extrapolates extremely well.

If you are looking for a stand-alone novel of his (he's sorta famous for getting on the scent and firing off a few, densely packed books about it), Antarctica is fantastic. He went there to research his Mars books and that one was the result.....a fantastic read.

Okay, all that said? Do you enjoy Crighton? This is Crighton _not_ pandering to the layman.....all of his stuff has some pretty heady real-world science......

I, um, hope that answers it....


----------



## ekim68

So that's a Yes, eh?


----------



## ekim68

Ok, I'm gonna get it...


----------



## valis

Eh, more or less......



Sweet Mary Mother of God that would be a 'yes'.  hope you enjoy; Ive found that he, along with Martin Smith (Gorky Park) are, oddly, a very weird acquired taste. Weird, as in Ive never found people who like either one or the other; those two authors generally have a very clearly defined like/dislike area with not a lot of grey. 

Truth told, I think that it is due to the science. People dont wanna think anymore.

Looking forward to THIS review...Mike, you may have a new career as lit critic.....


----------



## ekim68

Interesting that you mentioned their 'likes and dislikes' in that they're still good Writers...


----------



## valis

Touché, Mike....touché indeed.


----------



## Pyrofeline

ekim68 said:


> Curious as to what genre your husband's book is...And what do you look for in editing the novel?


Genre is Sci-fi; he considers it a Space Opera. When editing, I'm mainly looking at flow and trying to catch continuity errors. I'll also point out areas that may not be so clear. I'll write out my understanding of the passage so that he can see if it jibes with his.

I still do some copyediting because I can't help it.


----------



## ekim68

That's cool and I like the 'Space Opera' thing...:up: How long has he been at it and does he have a time frame in mind to finish it? I've written songs before but I've always had a tough time with lyrics so a book was never in my future, however I'm addicted to reading...


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished the Stoneheart Trilogy by Charlie Fletcher and after what I thought was a pretty slow start, it ended with a flourish and some astonishing twists and turns at the end. I recommend it...:up: (Now I'm gonna make some bread and let my mind unwind.)


----------



## KomputerKid

I love books with surprise endings.


----------



## ekim68

Hey Brandon, what's the latest book that you read?


----------



## KomputerKid

The last book I read was Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation by John Ehle*. *This was for school. The last mystery book I read was The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly.


----------



## valis

I like Connelly.......sorta a neo-noir feel about him......


----------



## ekim68

I finally ordered the Foundation series....


----------



## valis

nice.....great series. Ahh, Hari Seldon......


----------



## Pyrofeline

ekim68 said:


> That's cool and I like the 'Space Opera' thing...:up: How long has he been at it and does he have a time frame in mind to finish it? I've written songs before but I've always had a tough time with lyrics so a book was never in my future, however I'm addicted to reading...


Well, I don't think we're going to make the time frame he jokingly told me last month (book out in May, movie rights by September). I've finished my edits, but he wants to sit down with me when he's going through them so he can ask me questions to better understand my comments.

I'm HOPING we'll at least be reaching out to agents this year. This is the first time we've done this, so no clue on the timeline at all. 

I used to be quite the voracious reader. Now that I have other responsibilities tugging at my time, I don't get to read nearly as much as I'd like. I just finished Divergent (we saw the movie so of course I HAD to read the book) and have started the 2nd book in the trilogy.


----------



## ekim68

While waiting on the Foundation series, I decided to start in on the second book, A Dagger's Path, in the latest trilogy written by Glenda Larke and it's already fast and furious....


----------



## ekim68

Fun read...

10 Worst Misconceptions About Medieval Life You'd Get From Fantasy Books



> Some tropes are so ingrained in Medieval-inspired fantasy stories that it's tempting to think that they represent real aspects of Medieval life. But often these stories are just reinforcing myths and misconceptions about life in the Middle Ages.


----------



## ekim68

Well, I ordered something from Amazon today and along with it I'm getting The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein...

One of my all time favorites and I use to have a couple of the books, but over time.....Sheesh, it's always about Time, eh? 

Adding to this is that I forgot about Dinkum Thinkum....


----------



## ekim68

Well I got the Foundation series today and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but unfortunately they have to wait since I started The Dagger's Path....I'm not one of those who can read several books at a time... It looks like the rains are coming so darn, gonna have to stay inside and read for a while....


----------



## KomputerKid

Today I got a 6 book series by Robert Liparulo. They're more for people my age but you guys might enjoy them too. They seem similar to the Goosebumps series by R. L. Stein. The series is The Dreamhouse Kings.


----------



## ekim68

I looked up The Dreamhouse Kings and it looks like fun and a bit scary....:up:


----------



## Brigham

Brigham said:


> "I robot" is a case in point. I thought that it was just space opera, and very poorly done anyway. The book was a lot of short stories.


Mike
I was re reading my post and thought that I had given the wrong impression. I Robot, the collection of short stories is the most brilliant of the robot genre. It was the film that I thought was utter rubbish. The only sc-fi film that I thought was good, was The bicentennial man. The film makers seem to have stuck to the story quite well. I also thought that Robin Williams was very good in it.


----------



## Praxa

I'm new to the thread but what about the classics? I see that The Foundation trilogy is in here, but where are the other greats like Heinlein who wrote lots of books many of which were clever, witty, sly and lots of fun.(I still re-read THE GLORY ROAD occasionally, 'tho he's probably better known for STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND & others. Phillip K. Dick, Frederick Pohl, Arthur C. Clark, I. Asimov & the incomparable William Gibson who turned the Sci-Fi world on its head by creating 'tech noir" or 'cyber-tech' with NEUROMANCER. Lots of mind expanding fun stuff was written 50 + years ago & still holds up. These guys SAW the future and wrote about it with style. Well, I'm probably preaching to the choir & you all know this stuff already. I just didn't see any mentioned. Heck, I've even read much older stuff that was great. How far back do you want to go?
LLAP
Praxa


----------



## ekim68

Welcome to the thread Praxa...:up: If you go back a few pages you'll see some the names you quoted.  I'm getting ready to start the Foundation Trilogy and I just received another copy of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein. I read today that someone's thinking of making a movie of it and I've stated in the past that I really don't care much for movie interpretations of some of my favorites because they don't match up well. IMHO, of course...


----------



## ekim68

Just received Exiles Valor by Lackey and I guess that will put me about midway through the Valdemar series....


----------



## KomputerKid

Just started reading the NYPD Red series by James Patterson. Anybody here read these?


----------



## ekim68

I've read the Maximum Ride series by him but not NYPD Red....


----------



## valis

Here ya go, Mike, I do believe you may enjoy this write up. 

http://io9.com/in-the-world-of-fantasy-literature-david-eddings-is-tr-1694047046


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim....I just finished the Malloreon series and I'll probably read it several more times...It's a great story...:up:


----------



## ekim68

Ok, a question, Who is your favorite Character in Your latest Book?


----------



## valis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dortmunder is what I'm currently reading.


----------



## Brigham

When I was a little boy my dad used to read to me a lot. (no tv) We had a couple of the "Sanders of the river" books, and we really got engrossed in them. Looking for free books on the internet, I found a site with all the Sanders books on it. It is very dated but, because of the nostalgia factor, I found them unputdownable. (I know that's not really a word)


----------



## Brigham

The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline.

This is a story that every sci fi enthusiast should read. A wonderful parody.


----------



## valis

love my Asimov....


----------



## Brigham

valis said:


> love my Asimov....


You and me both


----------



## valis

Mike, think I may have asked you this before, but you ever read any Stephen R Donaldson?


----------



## ekim68

Not yet, but my Wife keeps putting the Thomas Covenant series in front of me so it's just a matter of time before I get to it..


----------



## valis

the first trilogy is astounding, forget the others.....but wow. That was my first fantasy trilogy, 1977.


----------



## valis

fyi, Mike? He was rejected by _every publisher_ in America. 47 rejections. So guess what he did? Wrote two more books to make a trilogy. Stud.


----------



## renegade600

I don't read much anymore but I do listen to a lot of audio books. Just finished up with the unabridged Harry Potter series - again. I forget the number of times I listened to that series. Fortunately I am able to listen to audio books at work. I found that I will listen to audiobooks that I just won't read, a couple of examples are the books by Mary Higgins Clark and Sandra Brown. I will listen to them but they are hard to read. Sometimes I get so involved with listening to them that I forget it is one person reading the different parts.


----------



## ekim68

Decided to put this here...

The Hugo Awards Were Always Political. But Now They're Only Political.



> Last August, the Hugo Awards for science fiction and fantasy were swept by a younger group of women and people of color. At the time, we said "This was really a year that underscored that a younger generation of diverse writers are becoming central to the genre." So maybe it's not surprising that there was an organized backlash.
> 
> The new slate of Hugo Awards nominees were just announced, and you can read the list at the link. Suffice to say, the nominees in pretty much every category (other than Best Novel) come pretty much exclusively from a fan campaign called Sad Puppies, organized by Brad R. Torgersen and Larry Correia. Last year, Correia organized a campaign which successfully placed one item in each category on the Hugo slate - so this year, they decided to go further. As John Scalzi has pointed out, this was not against the spirit or the letter of the Hugo Awards rules.


----------



## valis

Saw that, still sorta on the fence about it. If it were written by anyone else, I'd just file as an op-ed by someone who will never see a Hugo, but CJA has some chops when it comes to writing.


----------



## ekim68

Hey Tim, have you heard of this?

They're Making Radio Plays Out Of Ursula K. Le Guin's Novels!


----------



## valis

yes I have.  Rather happy about it as well.


----------



## ekim68

So I have this stack of six books sitting on my table staring at me and I decided to not touch them yet and instead picked up a book recommended by a local friend. It's the first of a series called the Twelve Houses by Sharon Shinn... Well I'm hooked and I'm ordering the rest of the books in the series...


----------



## ekim68

Ok, time for your favorite Book and/or Series....


----------



## valis

favorite book? Hmm....probably the Stand, Infinite Jest, or Cat Who Walks Through Walls.

Series? That one I dunno. Generally don't read series.....I did read a bunch of Jack Reacher books, and I"m reading Westlake's Dortmunder series.......


----------



## ekim68

I think my favorite book is in a series and it's The Elfstones of Shanarra and my favorite series is The Bellgariad...


----------



## valis

had I had twenty bucks, I would have put it down on Belgariad........


----------



## ekim68

Here you go Tim....

The May Science Fiction And Fantasy Books Everyone Will Be Talking About


----------



## valis

touche', Mike.


----------



## ekim68

I'm finally whittling away at the books on my table and I've started to reread The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and with this printing I learned something I didn't know. They named a crater on Mars after Heinlein....


----------



## valis

He's rather well respected.....


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and I now remember why I liked it so much....Classic....:up:


----------



## valis

Knee-deep in Expanded Universe currently....


----------



## DaveBurnett

> Well I just finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and I now remember why I liked it so much....Classic.


Is that the one with the puzzle in it that I have here and can't solve because I lent the book??
If I remember it caused real fear when it came out because it was thought that the space race would end with that scenario of throwing rocks.

I don't think that there are ANY of his books that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed and that haven't provoked above usual thought.


----------



## valis

The rocks scenario is accurate, but dunno about the puzzle part. Dont remember that.


----------



## ekim68

It doesn't have a puzzle in it but I think you might be thinking about The Number of the Beast because there were a number of questionable scenarios that were puzzling... I finally started the Foundation series and got half way through the first book today and I'm impressed by Azimov's intuitiveness especially since the book was written in 1951.....


----------



## DaveBurnett

The puzzle is only a passing thing whilst he is on the ship. It is either based on or is the base for Tetris and has those shapes.

Perhaps I'm getting it mixed up with another of his or Clarke's stories.


----------



## valis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentomino

Pretty sure that was a Clarke book, maybe the 9 billion names of God.......but yeah, it was pentomino.


----------



## DaveBurnett

That article you pointed to reckons it was Clarke and Imperial Earth.


----------



## valis

how about a 'thanks, you nailed it'?


----------



## eddie5659

Just read the Richard Laymon book called Body Rides. Great book, not his normal type of horror, but still good


----------



## DaveBurnett

> how about a 'thanks, you nailed it'?


OK. I get the point. No need to hammer it home.


----------



## valis

Touche.


----------



## ekim68

Well I'm near the end of the second book in the Foundation series and I have to say that I'm Hooked..... (I'll probably reread it several times.. )


----------



## valis

They are good.....


----------



## ekim68

When was the last time you read it Tim? It was 35 years between the time I first read Stranger in a Strange Land and recently reread it....Totally different take on it this last time, although it was still good..


----------



## DaveBurnett

You must read the follow up books then.
I will fear no Evil is the first of them.

I'm looking to getting them all again now I have a book reader and can carry a whole library around.


----------



## ekim68

Kindle?


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> When was the last time you read it Tim? It was 35 years between the time I first read Stranger in a Strange Land and recently reread it....Totally different take on it this last time, although it was still good..


as I've said, it's one of those 'once a decade' books........got another couple years to wait....


----------



## eddie5659

Just finished reading another book, Down River by John Hart. I liked it, its a drama kind of book, basically it says on the front 'Banished for a murder he didn't commit, now he's back'

Onto my new one now, may take a while, as I normally read at lunchtimes at work


----------



## DaveBurnett

Kobo Touch


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished Foundation and Wow.....What a mind Asimov had even at age 21....:up: (Gonna be thinking about the Other End of the Galaxy for a while now..)


----------



## DaveBurnett

Was that the series or just the one book?
There's Second Foundation, and Foundation and Empire after that.


----------



## ekim68

I read all three in the trilogy and I see where he wrote a few more as sequels and prequels but I'm not gonna read those right now because I'm starting Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Got to have some Fantasy as well as Science Fiction...


----------



## ekim68

Well I finished Uprooted and it was non-stop action and not PG-13....A lot of mysticism and a weird entertaining ending...


----------



## eddie5659

Just finished Dean Koontz with Icebound.

I enjoyed it, more of a thriller than anything. All based on ice, if the name doesn't help


----------



## valis

I'm apparently going on a John Muir kick......reading this currently:

http://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/the_yosemite/


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Havenstar by Glenda Noramly, (Glenda Larke now), and thoroughly enjoyed it and I like the endings to her stories....They're actual endings rather than suggest that something else might be coming....Yes, Fantasy...


----------



## ekim68

Okay I've started the Foundation series again, and I'm having a good time with it...:up:


----------



## ekim68

Looks like John Scalzi isn't done the The Old Man's War series....:up: Think I'll brush up on the Series until the book arrives...


----------



## pyritechips

ekim68 said:


> Okay I've started the Foundation series again, and I'm having a good time with it...:up:


I have a couple of non-fiction books to read then I may consider continuing the Foundation series. I read the trilogy recently. I'm sure you know that Asimov tied the Galactic Empire, Robot and Foundation series together in a series of books, of which I have most of them.


----------



## ekim68

I am aware of that, but the Foundation stands on it's own and I'm gonna read it again soon... I like the part on how Religion plays a part, and then it evolves....


----------



## pyritechips

Yes, Asimov wrote the Foundation trilogy with no intention of writing a sequel. I like the way he has the traders take control by using brains instead of brawn.


----------



## ekim68

Just got a copy of The Martian by Andy Weir....


----------



## valis

Im sitting on mine. I want to give it 100% and Im reading like 8 books currently. I loved the xkcd description though. I know Im going to love it.

Https://xkcd.com/1536/


----------



## ekim68

I'm about a third of the way through and I like it....:up:


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The Martian and what a ride....:up: You'll like it Tim...


----------



## valis

Awesome. I'll probably tackle it this winter.


----------



## ekim68

Well I just had to put this here, eh? 


[URL='http://io9.com/5892742/10-ultra-weird-science-fiction-novels-that-became-required-reading']10 Ultra-Weird Science Fiction Novels that Became Required Reading[/URL]




> You want a really weird ride? A science fiction or fantasy epic that stretches your brain like taffy and ties it into strange irregular shapes? Forget television or movies: books are where the really off-kilter stories are told in speculative fiction.


I am currently finishing The Tamuli by David Eddings and in the next day or two my Grandson's gonna loan me The End of All Things by John Scalzi...


----------



## valis

Tripped over that on the way out the office today, hit ctrl-d and reading during the AM conference call tomorrow.


----------



## ekim68

Well it looks like my Grandson's talked me into going and seeing The Martian movie tomorrow...At least he's driving so I can get practice at being a Back Seat Driver.... I'll give my opinion on the movie the next day...


----------



## valis

No spoilers chief. Taking Le Twit to see that once I prise him from the exes grip. So nada spoilers.


----------



## valis

And be polite; you have a few years on him in driving.


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> And be polite; you have a few years on him in driving.


:up:


----------



## DaveBurnett

I get nervous when my sons are driving. The problem is I can't say anything 'cause I taught them!!


----------



## ekim68

Well we went and saw The Martian last night and we didn't get home until almost midnight. (Sheesh, I'm getting too old for that time slot.  )
But, my Professional Opinion of it is a big WOW....:up:


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The End of All Things by John Scalzi and it was a great ride. :up: I recommend it and it's a fantastic ending to The Old Man's War series....


----------



## valis

Tried Scalzi, canNOT get into him. May be time to revisit. That said, neck deep in Heinlein again, Time Enough For Love this time 'round.


----------



## ekim68

Start The Old Man's War and follow it to the conclusion and I think you'll get into it. His humor is similar, but a bit more adult, than David Eddings.


----------



## DaveBurnett

I spotted that (Heinlein) on the pile of books my wife moved for re-decorating yesterday.
I'm into books of short sci-fi stories at the moment. Had a stack of six delivered just today.


----------



## valis

Time Enough aint short; you may be thinking of The Past Through Tomorrow, which is a collection.


----------



## DaveBurnett

Two separate sentences, Tim.
I might live Long enough to forget enough of that story to enjoy it yet again.


----------



## valis

'Long' enough indeed. That made me chuckle. Touche.


----------



## valis

Would that we all were Howards, eh?


----------



## DaveBurnett

Thursday I become officially old as well as dirty.


----------



## valis

My friend, that was official years ago. Reagan or Thatcher, take yer pick.


----------



## DaveBurnett

No thanks, I'll stick with a younger girl!!


----------



## ekim68

I just started The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory and so far it's a good and


> Dark


 read....


----------



## valis

Knee-deep in the charm school, by Demille, currently. GREAT cold war yarn.


----------



## eddie5659

Okay, this book isn't fiction, but it kinda is.

James Bowen - A Street Cat Named Bob

Its a great book, certainly made me smile, and at some points I think I may have left the window, as some dust blew into my eyes, to make them water a little


----------



## ekim68

Well I'm half way through the second book of the Obsidian Trilogy by Lackey and Mallory; 'To Light a Candle' is its name, and I'm finding that I like the Authors' way of making a Hero of special talent out of Doubtful Little, well almost Little, People... And now there's a Dragon.....! :up:


----------



## valis

Beginning a Straub bender here; just finished Koko, and just started Ghost Story, one of the best horror novels ever been dun wrote, IMHO.


----------



## ekim68

Well I finished The Obsidian Trilogy today and went hard charging through 300 pages of roller coaster action...Gonna take a couple of days to digest it all...


----------



## ekim68

Well I'm finally getting into to Terry Pratchett's works. My Wife is giving me an early Christmas Gift.... The first two books of his Discworld series..


----------



## DaveBurnett

The hooks dig deep!!


----------



## ekim68

I received as a gift a book titled Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory written in the mid 1400's. The first 22 pages describe the Text at the time and how to interpret the Geology and Relationships of different Families and Kingdoms. Geez, I feel like I'm in School again...


----------



## valis

hah! I READ that in school.


----------



## ekim68

Just received the first books of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series but while I was waiting on them I read Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet and it was a delightful fantasy and I think I might finish this series before digging into Pratchett....


----------



## DaveBurnett

Do that because once you start reading about Rincewind you won't want to put it down.


----------



## ekim68

I was reading a wiki about Foundation and found that Foundation's Edge was written 30 years later and it sounds pretty cool. Has anyone else read that?


----------



## valis

I never have, but I am pretty sure it won either the Hugo or Nebula.

BTW, you ever read Swan Song by McCammon?


----------



## ekim68

Nope, but it's now on my list...:up:


----------



## DaveBurnett

Yes.
I was just looking for a fresh book from the pile out back waiting for me to sort and put back on the shelves and saw " and Empire and nearly picked it but thought I'd better start afresh so picked something else instead.


----------



## ekim68

Well I've finally met Rincewind.........


----------



## DaveBurnett

Lots of episodes to go.
Ankh Morpork sounds like an interesting place to visit.
I think I've read all the related books. (till I just looked up the FULL list)
There is a fairly good mini- series on UK TV at the moment doing The Colour of Magic.


----------



## ekim68

Well I started the Acacia series by David Anthony Durham and although it was a slow start, it's picking up the pace and I'm fully involved....


----------



## valis

I'm about halfway through 'Rose', by Martin Cruz Smith, and about that as well through 'Antarctic', by Kim Robinson, he of 'Red Mars' fame.....


----------



## ekim68

Reading more than one book at a time is something I've not been able to do....I guess it's my attention span, oh look there's a kitty....


----------



## valis




----------



## ekim68

In the mood for some light reading so I'm taking on The Riyria Revelations by Michael Sullivan...


----------



## eddie5659

Currently reading The DaVinci Code. Nope, never read it before, seen the film years ago.

But so far (about 1/4 read) I'm enjoying the book a lot :up:


----------



## valis

I actually enjoyed that book, which is odd for me and mass media super hits. That said, I did NOT care for Angels and Demons at all......

currently reading a couple Fletch books, 'Skinny Legs and All' by Robbins, and finishing up 'The Gold Coast' by DeMille.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the Riyria Revelations trilogy and it was fun. Also long at almost 800 pages in each book...


----------



## valis

Just picked up 'American Desperado', by Jon Roberts, he of Cocaine Cowboys fame. Or infamy, I guess. Should be a good read, as I absolutely loved that documentary.


----------



## ekim68

I've read a few of these....:up:


[URL='http://io9.gizmodo.com/here-are-the-finalists-for-the-locus-awards-1775319787']Here Are the Finalists For the Locus Awards[/URL]




> The Hugo Awards are once again embroiled in controversy, but another major genre award, The Locus Award, has just released their finalists for this year's award, and it's an amazing selection of fiction.


----------



## eddie5659

Just finished one book and it was excellent, although the content can be a bit gruesome. 
Don Winslow - the cartel. 
Very good book about Mexican cartels, drug wars and other things. There is a book that I need to read, apparently before, called the power of the dog, but I felt I didn't need to read it to get into the story of this book. 
I'll be getting it anyway, and may look at all his other books


----------



## ekim68

I'm rereading Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce. In the mood for a Beka Cooper adventure....


----------



## valis

Just finished 'Ready Player One'......and it was, well, 'meh'. Thought I would love it, but, while good, it wasn't all that and a bag of chips. At least in my opinion.


----------



## ekim68

I'm midway through The Collegium Chronicles by Mercedes Lackey and it's a cool Adventure....


----------



## Deke40

John Hart hadn't written anything since 2011 but "Redemption Road" was worth
the wait. 

Now reading "Run" by Andrew Grant. (Brother of Lee Child)


----------



## valis

How is 'Run', by the way? Lee Child grabbed me as an author like very few have.


----------



## Deke40

Not to far into "Run" yet. I read in spurts and unless they are like "Redemtion Road" it might take me the full alloted 2 weeks to read one.


----------



## Deke40

valis said:


> How is 'Run', by the way? Lee Child grabbed me as an author like very few have.


Halfway into "Run" and it has me hooked. Have read all Lee Child's books but had a hard time watching 5'7" Tom Cruise playing
6'5" Jack Reacher.


----------



## valis

ditto. That said, he did a fine job. Did you catch ol' Lee Child's cameo in that, btw?

reading a non-fiction book, 'Instant Replay', by Jerry Kramer and Dick Schaap, about the 1967 Packers season. Fascinating read.


----------



## Deke40

He did do a pretty good job as J.R. 

Member the last play of the "Ice Bowl" like it was yesterday. I was only 27 then.


----------



## valis

I was -1. But I've seen enough and read enough of the older days of the sport to realize it's changed a wee bit since then.


----------



## eddie5659

I just finished reading Murder House by James Patterson, and I liked it. Not read any of his stuff before, but I felt this was a great book to read


----------



## Deke40

The only downside to starting one of Patterson's books is you forgo anything else you need to do.


----------



## eddie5659

Luckily I was on a plane reading it, read it on both flights and zipped through it whilst people were snoozing


----------



## Deke40

Started "Brighton" by Michael Harvey.


----------



## ekim68

Just getting into Age of Myth by Michael Sullivan.....


----------



## valis

Here ya go, Mike. All the new stuff coming out this fall. 

http://io9.gizmodo.com/all-the-new-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books-you-absol-1785608131


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim. I will probably get the Ursula Le Guin novellas book because I like her style, but it's also interesting that the prequel to Dune was co-written by Herbert's son...


----------



## valis

I liked Dune, the original, loooong ago, but every time I try to re-read it, I just get bogged down. That said, 'The Left Hand of Darkness' will forever be one of my favorites.


----------



## eddie5659

I'm currently reading Breakfast on Pluto.

If you've seen the film, it helps. Either way, its a hard book to understand, the way its written. Will give the full verdict when complete


----------



## Deke40

Adrenaline - Jeff Abbott


----------



## eddie5659

Gave up on Breakfast on Pluto 

The film was fine, just wasn't enjoying the book at all. Its in tiny chapters so the bit on the film that is long is a tiny paragraph in the book etc


----------



## valis

Yeah, I tried that book once, did NOT get very far into it. I feel ya....:up:


----------



## eddie5659

Well, maybe the charity shop can find a home for it 

Onto my next one:

James Oswald - The Damage Done

So far, its good so will let you know


----------



## valis

No Country For Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy. Wow. Great read so far. I started The Road by him, but that was faaaar too depressing; this is one of the better books I've read in some time. Ranks up there with Tom Robbins, but below DFW and Heinlein.


----------



## Deke40

The 07 movie with Tommie Lee Jones was pretty good but on the gory side.


----------



## valis

Great flick. Fantastic movie. But then, I'm a huge fan of the Coen Brothers; anyone who can make 'Raising Arizona' is going to be high on my list regardless.


----------



## valis

Finished No Country, moved onto Blood Meridian, also by Cormac. I'm a third through it, and it compares to ANYTHING Hemingway, Gatsby, or DFW put out. Wow.


----------



## ekim68

Just ordered Orphans in the Sky by Heinlein.....


----------



## valis

Good read. :up:


----------



## ekim68

Well I got the Orphans *of* the Sky and along with it The Man Who Sold The Moon which I never heard of before....(Oh well, as ekim settles down on the couch.... )


----------



## valis

Solid reads, both. Orphans, IIRC, is more of a Heinlein youh novel, but still a great read. You need to read Number of the Beast, or JOB though. The former remind me a LOT of the great Silverlock, by John Myers Myers.

And if you've not heard of that, well, you got some researchin' to do.


----------



## valis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverlock


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> Solid reads, both. Orphans, IIRC, is more of a Heinlein youh novel, but still a great read. You need to read Number of the Beast, or JOB though. The former remind me a LOT of the great Silverlock, by John Myers Myers.
> 
> And if you've not heard of that, well, you got some researchin' to do.


I read Number of the Beast and JOB and I thought they were both great and I will reread them. And I've now added Silverlock to my list...Thanks Tim...:up:


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished Orphans of the Sky and I misremembered it from before. (After all, the last time I read it was when I was in the Navy and that was about a hundred years ago...)


----------



## ekim68

I just got the Tales from the White Hart by Clarke. After morning chores I'm gonna settle in....


----------



## valis

Niiiice.  Looking forward to what you think of it.


----------



## Deke40

"Foreign Agent" by Brad Thor. "Bullseye" by James Patterson before that.


----------



## ekim68

Just started The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card...He has an interesting way of developing the character in a first/third person kind of way...


----------



## valis

Hey, what was your view on White Hart?

I'm currently in the middle of a Clancy kick, but am taking some time off to read some non-fiction F1 stuff.


----------



## Deke40

Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger
End Game by David Hagberg

Next-Escape Clause by John Sandford


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> Hey, what was your view on White Hart?
> 
> I'm currently in the middle of a Clancy kick, but am taking some time off to read some non-fiction F1 stuff.


I like a couple of the stories in White Hart, but I'm not sophisticated enough for some of the British Humour.... It's also hard for me to read through a bunch of short stories at one time so the book is in the Magazine Rack in the Throne Room so I can pick it up occasionally...


----------



## Deke40

"The Wrong Side Of Goodbye" by Michael Connelly.


----------



## valis

Just finished the new Reacher book, Night School. Not bad......


----------



## Deke40

Have it on hold.


----------



## valis

It starts off slow, but definitely picks up.


----------



## Deke40

As you can see I am addicted to mystery and action.


----------



## valis

I've read a few of those.


----------



## Deke40

Reading: 
The Innocents-Ace Atkins

Checked out:
Night School-Lee Child
Cross The Line-James Patterson


----------



## Deke40

The Jealous Kind-James Lee Burke
False Postive-Andrew Grant ( Brother of Lee Child)


----------



## ekim68

This is a Fun Read about one of my favorite Authors....


[URL='http://io9.com/5887014/meet-thiotimoline-the-chemical-compound-isaac-asimov-invented-to-spoof-boring-science-writing#_ga=1.265752908.271003835.1476846057']The fake chemical compound Isaac Asimov invented to punk science writers[/URL]


----------



## Deke40

"Home" by Harlan Coben


----------



## eddie5659

Finished reading The Damage Done by James Oswald

Didn't realise it was part of a series etc, as in the same police characters etc. But I liked it. Ending was a bit of a 'er....okaaayy' but overall it was good.

Gonna try and get the first in the series now


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the Tearling series by Erika Johansen and wow what an ending....:up:


----------



## Deke40

Never Never by James Patterson(with Candice Fox)

Also checked out:
False Friend by Andrew Grant
The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz


----------



## ekim68

I started the Muirwood series by Jeff Wheeler and it's moving at a fast pace....


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the Muirwood trilogy and I enjoyed it. Looks like Jeff Wheeler wrote more in this series but I'm gonna take a break from them and read Tempest which is edited by Mercedes Lackey....(Tales of Valdemar)


----------



## Deke40

Bronx Requiem by John Clarkson


----------



## valis

How is that? Ive heard good things about Clarkson but have yet to read him. 

Mango Bob here, by Bill Myers. Nice little adventure series, plus the dude has an RV, something Ive always wanted to do.


----------



## Deke40

Clarkson hadn't written anything in quite awhile. Started a new series with a James Beck character
that is pretty good.


----------



## Deke40

"The Nowhere Man" by Gregg Hurwitz. 
Orphan X (Evan Smoak) makes Jack Reacher seem like a cub scout.


----------



## valis

Really.....how's the writing on that?

'Florida Straits', Laurence Shames


----------



## Deke40

valis said:


> Really.....how's the writing on that?


This is only the second in this series but I have read 14 of his other book and like all of them.


----------



## valis

Cool, thanks Deke. I'll have to check those out.


----------



## Deke40

"The Prisoner" by Alex Berenson


----------



## Deke40

"Most Dangerous Place" by James Grippando


----------



## ekim68

I just picked up The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi....I'll get on it just as soon as I finish The Jouster series by Lackey...


----------



## Deke40

"The Second Life Nick Mason" by Steve Hamilton.


----------



## valis

John Sandford, 'Rules of Prey'.....pretty good so far. The protagonist is sort of a cross between Reacher and Graham from 'Red Dragon'.


----------



## Deke40

valis said:


> John Sandford, 'Rules of Prey'.....pretty good so far. The protagonist is sort of a cross between Reacher and Graham from 'Red Dragon'.


Read all 26 of those. Good books. Try the Virgil Flowers ones.


----------



## valis

Dang. 26?!?

Mind you, this is coming from the guy who tore through 17 reacher books in a summer, though. 

I'll check out the virgil flowers series as well. Thanks, Deke. :up:


----------



## Deke40

You might also look at the Harry Bosch series(22) by Michael Connelly. Some what in the vein of Lucas Davenport.

If you like westerns try the Sackett series by Lewis L'Amour, 19 of them. Starts out inthe 1600s in Europe then
on to the New World.

One more. Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke.

I couldn't resist. Kevin Kerney series by Michael McGarrity.

I will shut up for now.


----------



## valis

Hecks no. I read a few books perweek, so Im always lookingfor suggestions. Thanks again Deke.


----------



## charlotte25

Deke40 said:


> "The Second Life Nick Mason" by Steve Hamilton.


That is an amazing one!


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the Jouster series and I'm exhausted......


----------



## ekim68

Just got a copy of Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi and I'm gonna get started on it today....


----------



## ekim68

Do you ever smile out loud while reading a book? Well, I am, and I forgot about Scalzi's sense of humor....


----------



## ekim68

I just finished Collapsing Empire and it was a good read. However, Scalzi has gone full on R rating on this one...


----------



## Deke40

"The Killing Season" by Mason Cross


----------



## ekim68

I just started The Halfblood Chronicles by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey and it's a slow start....


----------



## valis

I have tried reading her twice and failed both times due to that exact problem.


----------



## ekim68

Okay, after a hundred pages things are moving much more quickly and I'm into it....


----------



## RT

ekim68 said:


> Do you ever smile out loud while reading a book?


Yes indeed, and sometimes LOL'd


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Elevenbane and I'm on to the next book in the series and it's quite entertaining.....


----------



## Deke40

No Man's Land by David Baldacci


----------



## Deke40

The Samaritan by Mason Cross.


----------



## Gr3iz

Re-reading the first book in the Thomas Covenant series. It's been many (many) years ...


----------



## Deke40

Gr3iz said:


> Re-reading the first book in the Thomas Covenant series. It's been many (many) years ...


I been thinking about doing the same with the "Sacketts" by Louis L'amour which I read 22 years ago when I retired.


----------



## valis

Gr3iz said:


> Re-reading the first book in the Thomas Covenant series. It's been many (many) years ...


Man, I've not read those in forever....but they were very, very high on my list back when I was 12 or so. The second trilogy, not so much.....but man, that first one. Matter of fact, when I got married, I specifically chose a white gold ring because of them.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished the Half-blood Chronicles and it was entertaining...:up:


----------



## Deke40

Burning Bright by Nick Petrie(First read on Ebook on my Android)

Marathon by Brian Freeman


----------



## Deke40

Tower Down by David Hagberg


----------



## ekim68

Just started The Man Who Sold The Moon by Robert Heinlein and it's fascinating to me to read about the future from a 1939 perspective...(Although it was released in 1950, the book was actually started in 1939..)


----------



## valis

Love that book. :up:


----------



## ekim68

I'm posting this to remind me of a Rant that I have about Authors who write a series of books and then with their Publisher release them every six or eight months...Sigh* I know it's about Money, but still....


----------



## Deke40

Girl In The Glass-James Hayman


----------



## valis

reading Point of Impact, Stephen Hunter.....the book the movie Shooter was based on. Good read, got a lot of tech in there if one likes guns.


----------



## Deke40

valis said:


> reading Point of Impact, Stephen Hunter.....the book the movie Shooter was based on. Good read, got a lot of tech in there if one likes guns.


Read all but a couple of his. Almost through with G-Man.


----------



## valis

I've read Point of Impact and Dirty White Boys, getting Black Light next.


----------



## Deke40

Use Of Force-Brad Thor


----------



## stream26

Just finished "Truly Madly Guilty" by Liane Moriarty


----------



## PaulineGreening

I just finished the selections series. It's like a weird bachelorette's story that ends well but not well enough.


----------



## Deke40

Reading "Winterlong" by Mason Cross
Next- "The Old Man" by Thomas Perry


----------



## ekim68

I'm on the second book of the Crosspointe Series by Diana Pharaoh Francis and it's starting to Rock n Roll...A fun ride....I recently picked up The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene and that's next....


----------



## ekim68

Okay I got started on The Elegant Universe by Greene, and Holy Head Crunch... I'm determined to finish it...


----------



## valis

Just finished the Kidd series by Sandford; nice little four book run.


----------



## ekim68

[URL='http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-2017-hugo-award-winners-are-here-1797762970']The 2017 Hugo Award Winners Are Here[/URL]



> The most prestigious awards in science fiction had their 2017 ceremony today, at WorldCon 75 in Helsinki, Finland-and just like last year, female creatives have swept some of the biggest awards of the event.


----------



## eddie5659

Reading one now, called Ashes of London by Andrew taylor. Set during the Great Fire of London, and its about murder etc.

Only halfway through, but liking it already


----------



## ekim68

Just started The Witches of Karres by James Schmitz and it is a fun read and a lot lighter than The Elegant Universe which I just finished...


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The Witches of Karres and it was a good ride and the Author's style reminded me of Heinlein....Tomorrow I'm gonna start Age of Swords by Michael Sullivan...


----------



## ekim68

Just started The Age of Swords and I'm smiling about a hundred pages in.....


----------



## eddie5659

Just finished The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor.

Good book, based around 1666, the great fire of London, and a murder


----------



## eddie5659

Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. Excellent book, recommend to anyone.

Seen the film, been a while but can't remember much. But I know Matt Damon was in it, so all through the book I imagined him in the role of Watney


----------



## valis

Havent seen the film but have read the book. Good read.

Finished Sandford, moving on to Connolly now.


----------



## ekim68

eddie5659 said:


> Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. Excellent book, recommend to anyone.
> 
> Seen the film, been a while but can't remember much. But I know Matt Damon was in it, so all through the book I imagined him in the role of Watney


I actually thought the Movie followed the Book pretty good, but when they finally connected in Space it was more drama than necessary...


----------



## eddie5659

Yep, in the book, its hardly any pages with the final part in Space. Its all about Mars


----------



## ekim68

I just started, again, reading The Number of The Beast by Heinlein and I forgot about the whimsical and intelligent conversations between the four main characters...Here's a paragraph on page 16 that got a snicker out of me...



> He was puffed up like a pouter pigeon with his professional pontifical pomposity reeling. His expression suggested that he was giving birth to a porcupine.


----------



## valis

There is indeed a reason why I have more books by Heinlein than any other. Well, several, as he was fairly prolific.

But man is he a good prose writer. FWIW, starting to sniff around The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, but may take a while....that book is too good to read more than once every 5 years at the least...


----------



## eddie5659

Sometimes I do random things, like pick a shelf in a charity shop of books before I get there, so that the book I pick is completely unknown to me.

Well, it worked out well. Read this one in a week, a rarity for me:

What Alice Knew by T A Cotterell. Very good book, hand me thinking about all sorts of ways it could go. Recommend if you like psycholigical suspense etc.


----------



## eddie5659

Also, in record time as I seem to be in my reading phase, this one is good:

The Murder Bag - Tony Parsons

Not bad, a thriller kind of book. I liked it, read it every day 

The next one I'm on may take a while, its a classic. Will say when read


----------



## valis

New Sandford book broke, in the Virgil Flowers series. Guess what I am doing tonight (no World Series game).


----------



## valis

Asimov's Black Widowers club, based on the Trap Door Spider club. 

Cannot watch my team in game seven, some weird superstitious thing. So I got the Stros on the radio and will read around 80-100 pages tonight.

Then tomorrow, I will read them again for the first time.


----------



## ekim68

I just finished Tortall, A Spy's Guide by Tamora Pierce and for anyone who is familiar with the Tortall World it's a nice recap on the Books. :up:


----------



## valis

Chewing through the Mitch Rapp series by Flynn. Good reads but no Reacher.


----------



## nampoothiri

I am a great fan of Dphne De Morier. I have read almost all her books. On the funny side it is PG Wodehouse and in suspense Agatha Christie, no doubt. Chethan Bhagat also is good, but one must understand the Indian context.


----------



## eddie5659

Unfortunatly, I gave up on the book I was reading. It was a Penguin Classic - The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Saw the old black and white film yonks ago, but never seen the disney one. But I can tell you this, its nothing like the book.

Got nearly half way through, and at one point it spent nearly 30 pages talking about the architecture of a place, and the nearby places.

For me, I wanted something...not sure what, but for me, it wasn't a book I enjoyed 

Got other books lined up for the new year as I'm reading about dogs at the moment (non-fiction)


----------



## ekim68

I have to admit that I only recognize one Author in this group...


[URL='https://io9.gizmodo.com/24-new-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books-to-add-to-your-1821602262']24 New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Add to Your January Reading List[/URL]


----------



## valis

I recognized 4 or 5 buthave read exactly zero of them.


----------



## valis

Bonfire Of The Vanities. Been a while since I read some Wolfe.


----------



## ekim68

Thought I'd put this here in memory of Ursula. A couple of Titles I haven't read yet...


Ursula K. Le Guin reading list: Titles every fan should read


----------



## valis

Thanks for that Mike. :up:


----------



## valis

Back to sci-fi temporarily. Picked up Niven's 'Lucifers Hammer'. Sorta like The Stand or Swan Song.


----------



## ekim68

Well I have three books on the stand right now and I pick them up when I'm in the Mood for one or the other. I'm still charging, (although sparingly), through The Elegant Universe, and I've started reading Leonardo da Vinci by Isaacson, however at the moment I'm picking up the third Book in the Belgariad series. I'm in the Mood for some heroes and a couple of Cool Quests....


----------



## valis

Man, you and the Belgariad.....great series but Eddings best book, IMHO, will always be the Losers....


----------



## ekim68

The Losers depressed me so I'll stick with The Lady Polgara and Company...


----------



## valis

Lol.....word up, my friend. This is EXACTLY why there are as many different genres as there are.


----------



## valis

Floating Dragon, by Straub. Such an underrated author. Koko is some of the best story development Ive seen, and Ghost Story is third on my list of scariest books ever, after Exorcist and 'Salems Lot.


----------



## Johnny b

If it hasn't already been noted

The Expanse series.

I've read the first 4 and waiting on my local library to get the remaining 3
but haven't seen anything about the short stories and novellas that Wikipedia refers to.


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished The Belgariad and I laughed and almost cried and had a very good time.  Now onto The Malloreon....


----------



## valis

Just heard about the 'A Wrinkle In Time' movie.....think I will skip that. Falls into the same category as the LOTR movie series; Jackson did a fantastic job but will never beat my imagination.


----------



## valis

One for you, Mike; starting the Of Man and Manta trilogy by Anthony.....


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim. I hadn't heard of that trilogy until now. I looked it up and it's intriguing... I recently picked up a non-fiction book titled A Man on the Moon and it's about the Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts...


----------



## valis

That could be good, off to Amazon.

Got a $100 gift card for Christmas that is burning a hole in my pocket anyhow. And the Apollo program, IMHO, isthe pinnacle of human engineering to date.


----------



## ekim68

As a young, at heart, adult I'm starting The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman...


----------



## ekim68

Another list and I only recognize one Author this time...


[URL='https://io9.gizmodo.com/27-new-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books-well-worth-che-1823145946']28 New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Well Worth Checking Out in March[/URL]


----------



## ekim68

As an aside, I finished A Man on the Moon and what a read. Those Guys were really Heroes.... Reading it put me in the time frame of what I was doing then. I was leaving College for the Navy, strange times...


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The Book of Dust by Pullman and Malcolm was fabulous....:up:


----------



## ekim68

Although technically not a Fiction book, I just finished Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson and it was a good read. Great insight to Civilization during those times.. :up:


----------



## valis

Mike, you ever read Eco's 'The Name of the Rose'? A bit earlier in time than Isaacson's book (which I may have to read, btw; love da Vinci) but also an excellent representation of the medieval times. An excellent puzzle as well.


----------



## ekim68

Nope... But I'll take a look see....


----------



## valis

It's a pretty dense read, I'll say that. If you didn't care for 'Gravity's Rainbow' this may not be your cup of tea.....but it's extremely well written and is a pretty solid mystery as well.....


----------



## ekim68

Here you go Tim. I've become a Scalzi fan so I'm gonna get his new book. 


[URL='https://io9.gizmodo.com/feast-your-eyes-on-all-the-new-scifi-and-fantasy-books-1824079720']Feast Your Eyes on All the New Scifi and Fantasy Books Coming Out in April[/URL]


----------



## valis

Thanks Mike I'll have to check that out.:up:


----------



## Gr3iz

Re-reading, for the umpteenth time (well, maybe not quite double digits yet, but getting close!), The Hobbit (just finished) and the LOTR trilogy. Then the Silmarillion again.


----------



## valis

The Silmarillion was too much for me. Tried it a dozen times just cannot get into it. Very densely written, sorta like Infinite Jest or Gravitys Rainbow. Loved the Hobbit though.


----------



## Gr3iz

The first time I read it, I almost quit after a few dozen pages, but I kept at it. I really enjoyed it once I finished it. I've read it several times since, though not as often as the other 4 books.

It's kinda like the Middle earth bible, in a way ... The whole back story of the world.


----------



## ekim68

After a couple of historical books I'm looking for an Adventure and so I'm reading The Witches of Karres by James H. Schmitz, actually rereading it, and there are moments when I laugh out loud and then look around to see if anyone saw me do that... It is a Fun Ride and an interesting look at the future of Space Travel from a 1966 perspective when the Book was written...


----------



## ekim68

A nice write up about one of my favorite authors... 


The Imaginative Reality of Ursula K. Le Guin


----------



## valis

Good read. Thanks for that, Mike.


----------



## ekim68

I've started the Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce and the first book is Terrier...


----------



## ekim68

More on Ursula... 

This is a trailer of a film about her that took ten years to make..

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin


----------



## valis

Saw that last night. 

Picked up Reamde, by Neal Stephenson. As loquacious as always, this one runs about 1k pages. Got my weekend planned. :up:


----------



## ekim68

Wow, 1k pages? Some people just have a way with words, lots of words... I don't... Looks like the film will be released next month and I'm looking forward to it.


----------



## valis

huh....had zero clue a film was in the making. I generally like Neal (Cryptonomicon ranks very high with me) but yeah....he writes like King.

Personally? I enjoy the longer books more....but then, I read a few hours a day. Go through a ton of books that way. Bought this one in analog from a bargain bin a few years back but never started it, popped up on Prime for a buck so I bought it again. So bought twice for under $5. Lol.


----------



## Deke40

Just read John Hart's "Hush". Have read all his books but this one was way different. Liked it.

Also finished John Sandford's "Deep Freeze" and now reading Brian Freeman's "Alter Ego".


----------



## valis

loved Deep Freeze but I am a huge fan of Sandford. Have to check the other two out.


----------



## Deke40

Have read 49 of his.


----------



## Deke40

You might not know this about John Sandford but interesting:

*John Sandford* is the pseudonym for Pulitzer Prize*-*winning journalist John Camp. He is the #1 _New York Times_ bestselling author of the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport, the Kidd series and the Virgil Flowers series.


----------



## valis

I did indeed. As I said, huge fan of his.


----------



## valis

valis said:


> Picked up Reamde, by Neal Stephenson. As loquacious as always, this one runs about 1k pages. Got my weekend planned.


Finished it, heckuva ride. The ending, as with most long books, was very lacking but overall a good read.

Cryptonomicon, ONE of his other 1k+ books.


----------



## eddie5659

Just starting on some books again, my mum gave me 6 to give to charity, so reading them first.... then, I went to Waterstones on the same day, and ended up with another 7.

Will review them after I've read each, old and new


----------



## valis

funny how that happens, trying to get rid of books and end up doubling the quantity.


----------



## ekim68

Well I've started, (for the third time), This Perfect Day by Ira Levin. If I can't make it through this time, I'm going back to my Young Adult books.


----------



## valis

LOL! 

Just finished Cryptonomicon (you just may enjoy that, Mike) about to kick off Name of the Rose. Wish me luck.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished This Perfect Day and what an ending..... :up:


----------



## Deke40

"Her Last Scream" by J.A. Kerley


----------



## ekim68

Just ordered Head On by John Scalzi... Still have to finish a series, but it will be there when I'm ready.


----------



## RT

Gol Dang it folks! (or substitute your own phrasing there  )
I wish I could join this conversation, but my eyesight has gotten so bad...
though I enlarge the computer screen and I do know of some of the books and authors you refer to... I've never bought an e-book, always preferred a book bound in paper... 
I got into the bad habit of reading a book in bed a long time ago, and that resulted with me associating reading with sleep  not my intention there.
Can't say how many times I've stirred from sleep and found the light on, a book with bent pages and a mangled set of spectacles


----------



## ekim68

Nothing wrong with reading yourself to sleep... I do it frequently, and then I have to read it again to find out what I missed...


----------



## valis

ya know, Kindles are dirt cheap (40 bucks or so), AND one can change the font size....


----------



## RT

valis said:


> ya know, Kindles are dirt cheap (40 bucks or so), AND one can change the font size....


I have indeed considered that, Tim.
but I've left out one other thing...
attention span...
or rather, lack there of 
comes and goes...
one of the many questionable benefits of aging I reckon 
I think I could well take a Kindle to bed, wake up to find the lamp still on, a crushed Kindle, and yet another pair of mangled spectacles along side


----------



## RT

Having said all that cheerful stuff above, one of my go to books was "The River Why" by David J. Duncan. There was a movie made by that title which was extremely disappointing to me, and probably to most folks, but I sure did like the book at the time i was reading it...mid 80s I'd say.
But that was one of many, back in the days


----------



## Deke40

"The Bomb Maker"--Thomas Perry


----------



## Deke40

"Down the River unto the Sea"--Walter Mosley


----------



## Deke40

"The Fallen"--David Baldacci

RT-I was a "book in hand" reader until I tried an Ebook on my tablet with the Amazon app. Liked it so well went out and bought a Kindle Fire for both of us. Have since bought my wife
a Kindle Paperwhite. The Paperwhites are a little more expensive but they don't have the backlight system and are easier on the eyes plus you can read them in direct sunlight with no problems. Also bought us four pair of cheaters each (at Sam's for $20) to prevent crushing our regular glasses when reading in bed. We humans learn to adapt in our declining
years.


----------



## valis

RT said:


> Having said all that cheerful stuff above, one of my go to books was "The River Why" by David J. Duncan. There was a movie made by that title which was extremely disappointing to me, and probably to most folks, but I sure did like the book at the time i was reading it...mid 80s I'd say.
> But that was one of many, back in the days


got a damn good friend of mine (we were collegiate roommates waaaaay back in the day) who loves that book. That said, he does own the top two fly fishing guideplaces in more or less the entire universe........

http://www.roaringforkanglers.com/guide-profiles/shop_staff/jdysart.htm

If you ever head up Colorado way, need to look him up.


----------



## RT

Thanks Tim!
That's rather awesome, ya know, a coincidence that already happened 
What I mean is The Boy, whose learned to tie a fly, knows about your friend, by the Internet and reputation.  

It's doubtful that I'll ever travel much further than my mailbox and or the Dr's office, but I sure do appreciate your comment 

And yours too Deke!


----------



## eddie5659

Colin Dexter - The Daughters of Cain

This is one of the books my mum gave me for the charity shop. Never read any of these, but seen plenty of Morse episiodes ages ago.

I liked this book, and as I remember the actors in the series, I could jus imagine what they looked like. Of course, if you've never seen any, your imagination may be different. Good storyline, lost me at some points, but in the end we got there


----------



## Deke40

"Betrayal" by Tim Tigner
"The Voice Inside" Brian Freeman.


----------



## ekim68

Just got Age of War by Michael Sullivan and the whole Riyria series has been a Fun Ride...


----------



## Deke40

Finished "The Death Box"-J.A Kerley
Reading "The King Tides"-James Swain


----------



## Chawbacon

Currently reading Juxtaposition by Piers Anthony, which is part of the "Apprentice Adept" series. 
Just a light, fun read, as most of Anthony's books tend to be.


----------



## valis

Good ol' Stile.....first program I ever wrote was a miserable attempt to turn Phaze into a game....


----------



## Chawbacon

valis said:


> Good ol' Stile.....first program I ever wrote was a miserable attempt to turn Phaze into a game....


Oh how I wish that you had succeeded! Replication of the Game Computer competitions alone would have been a blast. Be kind of hard to get that PG13 rating though. Hehe.

Since my programming skills are negligent at best, I will leave that monumental task to those more suited for the challenge.


----------



## valis

it was 1986 and BASIC. Doomed from the start.


----------



## Deke40

"The Memory Killer"-J.A. Kerley


----------



## Chawbacon

Just started The President is Missing by James Patterson & Bill Clinton.


----------



## Deke40

"Don't Look For Me"-Mason Cross


----------



## ekim68

Thought I'd put this here and it's interesting....


Late bloomers: 10 classic books with terrible initial reviews


----------



## valis

dang....some heavy hitters on that list....


----------



## ekim68

I just received Head On by John Scalzi and I'll start in on it later today...


----------



## ekim68

I'm about a third of the way through Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and she's changed her style in that she's having four different characters narrate in first-person throughout.


----------



## Deke40

"The Armageddon File"-Stephen Coonts


----------



## Deke40

"Spymaster" - Brad Thor
"Bloody Sunday - Ben Coes on hold.


----------



## Deke40

"Flash"-Tim Tigner


----------



## Deke40

"Desolation Mountain"-William Kent Krueger


----------



## Chawbacon

Finished The President is Missing by James Patterson & Bill Clinton.

A bit unrealistic; but, it is a fiction book.  Overall this was an enjoyable read.

Now to figure out what to read next??????


----------



## Deke40

A Fatal Obsession-James Hayman
The Death File-J.A. Kerley


----------



## valis

Chawbacon said:


> Finished The President is Missing by James Patterson & Bill Clinton.
> 
> A bit unrealistic; but, it is a fiction book.  Overall this was an enjoyable read.
> 
> Now to figure out what to read next??????


You know Jack Reacher or Lucas Davenport? Those are two series that I enjoyed immensely. But I don't know what you enjoy to read.


----------



## Chawbacon

valis said:


> You know Jack Reacher or Lucas Davenport? Those are two series that I enjoyed immensely. But I don't know what you enjoy to read.


I have not read either of those characters; however, they do look interesting. I will have to give them a try.

I mostly read information security related articles... UGH! But in my spare time, I normally read SciFi, SciFI Fantasy, some Horror, some Legal, and the occasional Fiction book. The exception being The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, which I read once or twice a year.

Thanks for the reading tip Valis.


----------



## Deke40

"The Sinners"-Ace Atkins


----------



## valis

non-fiction book here, reading Go Like Hell about the Ford/Ferrari Le Mans showdown of the 60s.

If you enjoy auto stuff, this is one of the best books Ive read. Technical AND great writing.

Plus I think the MkII GT40 is one beautiful machine.


----------



## Deke40

"The Take"-Christopher Reich


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished Elenium and Tamuli by David Eddings and it took me almost two weeks. Even though it was 2,000 pages I think I'm slowing down.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Tesla by Margaret Cheney and yes I know it wasn't fiction, but it was fascinating. Not only about the Man but the Times, especially from the 1880's thru the 1920's, and the beginning of an Electrical World and the Power of Banks..


----------



## ekim68

Just got my copy of The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter by Michael Sullivan...


----------



## valis

Looking forward to the review. 

John Sandford, Winter Prey.


----------



## ekim68

Finished The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter and it was fun, but then again I think the whole Riyria series is fun..


----------



## Johnny b

Not fiction and not read it, yet, but will in the future.

Ubuntu by Heather Ellis.


----------



## volttackle

I'm currently looking for a copy of the book of Bird Box after seeing the movie trailer with Sandra Bullock on it.


----------



## Johnny b

https://www.amazon.com/Bird-Box-Novel-Josh-Malerman/dp/0062259652


----------



## RT

Dusting my shelves of printed word hard back and paperback acquisitions, some of which have been mentioned in this thread, I came across a classic.
Perhaps you were required to read it high school English Lit class, or perhaps you read it because of love of literature...

You'll know what I mean when I mention the classic book, that details a historic trying time in England and Europe. 
I refer, of course, to "A Sale of Two Titties" by Darles Chickens.

My first edition copy has pages that are brittle and yellowed with age, and there seems to be some sort of sticky note as a book mark...hmmm,

just says "try to work this lame joke into TSG and hope some one gets a laugh."


----------



## valis

Just finished The Stand. Again. Love that read.


----------



## RT

valis said:


> Just finished The Stand. Again. Love that read.


Yep.
However if memory serves, wasn't there a re-release of the book that added another 200 pages, or sommat, to the original publication?
I just recall one critic saying to that, once you start reading you won't want to put the book down...but if you do, you won't want to pick it up again. (paraphrased)
For me, partially true, but I know I read which ever version more than once.


----------



## valis

yup, the unabridged edition. A nice 1300 page read.


----------



## ekim68

1300? Sheesh, I can barely count that high..  Just picked up The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi..


----------



## RT

Tim, I though I should mention this to ye....
because you might get a chuckle from it....if i tell right. 

You are well read and have mentioned King many times.
When I got my monitor a while back, I found it a bit too low for comfortable vision.
I mean it needed to be elevated...
Sooo...I have a hard back copy of King's "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" which I reckon to be about 2 1/2 to 3 inches thick, and that turned out to be just right for my monitor base.
It's still there as I write.

As you know, any temporary solution, left in place long enough, becomes permanent.


----------



## valis

LOL! Hey at least it is getting used eh?


----------



## ekim68

For Christmas I was given a copy of Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw and I plan on starting it today.. Review to come..


----------



## ekim68

I enjoyed the Dawn of Wonder and it was a good read for a Young Adult like me...


----------



## ekim68

Just started The Serpent's Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and it's one of the books in the Elemental Masters series. She writes a good story..


----------



## eddie5659

Just finsihed reading three books by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling).

I actually never knew it was her, until I read a bit inside, its completely different to the Harry Potter stuff.

But I liked them, I normally get books from the bookshop, so I actually read the third. Liked it, so then bought the first two. Just realised there is a fourth out, but not got yet.

So, thats The Cuckoo's calling, The Silkworm and Career of Evil.

On my next book that is pretty big, I Am Pilgrem by Terry Hayes. Still reading, but like it so far


----------



## Deke40

Just finished "Out Of The Dark" - Gregg Hurwitz now reading "The Girl In The Glass Box" by James Grippando.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The Rose and the Thorn by Michael Sullivan and boy was it ever brutal...  Still a very good read...


----------



## Deke40

Invisible by Andrew Grant.(Brother of Lee Child)


----------



## valis

Deke40 said:


> Invisible by Andrew Grant.(Brother of Lee Child)


How is it? The last couple Reacher novels were virtually unreadable....


----------



## Deke40

I agree as I had to force myself to finish the last Reacher book. Grant's books have all been good.


----------



## valis

Thanks, I'll check him out. Reading some Elmore Leonard currently but need a new author.


----------



## ekim68

I just started the Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings and it's a great story as I'm sitting in a warm room while it's frozen outside..


----------



## RT

The Yellow River by I. P. Freely.


OK that that was a a silly juvenile post, but I bet y'all haven't read that one in a long while

sorry folks, I have a touch of cabin fever or something


----------



## valis

RT said:


> The Yellow River by I. P. Freely.
> 
> OK that that was a a silly juvenile post, but I bet y'all haven't read that one in a long while
> 
> sorry folks, I have a touch of cabin fever or something


Doesnt sound so much as cabin fever as a case of the goofies. For shame. .

I would say act your age but I am certain I would get the response 'I dont know how, Ive never been this age before' answer. 

Reading the Serge Storm books by Dorsey. Very much like Carl Hiassen but not as well written. But Hiassen is a rarity IMHO.


----------



## RT

valis said:


> Doesnt sound so much as cabin fever as a case of the goofies. For shame. .
> 
> I would say act your age but I am certain I would get the response 'I dont know how, Ive never been this age before' answer.


Now I could say that I'm older than you, and therefore wiser.
We both know that statement is only half true... 

"a case of the goofies..."  Haven't heard that since I read the book I spoke of.
And just so you know, my Way Back Machine is in need of maintenance.


----------



## Deke40

"Long Road To Mercy"-David Baldacci


----------



## Deke40

"Cold Harbor" - Matthew Fitzsimmons


----------



## GrinHulk

Deke40 said:


> "Cold Harbor" - Matthew Fitzsimmons


Heard from a friend that this was good. Verdict?


----------



## Deke40

50% read and it is as good as the previous two I have read.


----------



## Deke40

"Tear It Down" - Nick Petrie


----------



## Gr3iz

Dean Koontz's _Odd Thomas_ series. On the third book now, _Brother Odd_, having finished _Odd Thomas_ and _Forever Odd_. They are entertaining enough ... I'm enjoying them.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The Belgariad by David Eddings... (I'm a Young Adult at heart..)


----------



## eddie5659

Finally finished I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes.

Excellent book, bit thick and when you only read at lunch at work for ~15mins, it can take a while


----------



## eddie5659

Just read The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena.

I liked this book, kinda got some of the plot, but some certainly took a few twists and turns. Its also her first book she wrote, curious of others


----------



## Deke40

"The Chef"- James Patterson


----------



## Deke40

"Redemption"-David Baldacci


----------



## eddie5659

I know its an old one, but never read it before: Along Came a Spider - James Patterson


----------



## Deke40

"The Contractors"-Harry Hunsicker


----------



## valis

Nelson DeMille - The Lion


----------



## managed

'Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990)' - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Well written and very funny.

Amazon Prime have a TV series based on it starting on the 31st of this month :- https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B07FMSYNSL/ref=atv_dl_rdr?autoplay=1


----------



## valis

Gotta admit, that was a good read, and I generally dont like fantasy...


----------



## managed

valis said:


> Gotta admit, that was a good read, and I generally dont like fantasy...


Same here.


----------



## GrinHulk

Shipping News by Annie Proulx - mixed reviews for this I think, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.


----------



## Gr3iz

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
A bit rough getting started, but I'm starting to get into it now ...


----------



## valis

I do love me some Dirk Gently....havent read those in a while may have to dig them up...


----------



## Gr3iz

I understand there was a TV series, as well. May have to try to find that when I'm done with all the books.


----------



## Deke40

"The Devil's Country"-Harry Hunsucker(A Jack Reacher kind of character)


----------



## Deke40

"First Kill"-David Hagberg


----------



## Deke40

"The Shadow Boys"-Harry Hunsucker


----------



## valis

Nelson Demille, The Gold Coast


----------



## eddie5659

Gr3iz said:


> I understand there was a TV series, as well. May have to try to find that when I'm done with all the books.


Didn't realise there were books, but yep, the tv show is pretty good 

Now, this isn't a fiction book, but then its not a non-fiction either:

Five Years to Freedom, The True Story of a Vietnam POW - by James N Rowe

Just finished it. Took a while, as I only read these books at work in lunchtime, but it was very good. Its about a soldier in Vietnam war, that gets taken prisoner. You get to learn the hardships that they faced, food rations, health, and loneliness.

It can get a bit overwhelming, some reviewed it and said they skipped parts, but I read the whole thing.

One issue though: If you like to read a chapter, then stop for the night.....good luck. In the 465 pages, there are a whopping 10 chapters!!


----------



## Deke40

"The Crooked Street"-Brian Freeman


----------



## Deke40

"Backlash"-Brad Thor


----------



## Deke40

"Unsolved"-James Patterson


----------



## Deke40

"If She Wakes"-Michael Koryta


----------



## valis

Any good? I've heard mixed reviews on that one.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, 'The Right Stuff'.


----------



## Deke40

Not one of his best but readable.


----------



## valis

Well, arent they all?


----------



## Gr3iz

Welcome to TSG!!

I've just started with the Spellsinger series. I had read the first book a looong time ago. Have since collected the whole series.


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The Age of Legend by Michael Sullivan... Just two more books in the series and they both come out next year... :up:


----------



## valis

Great Train Robbery by Crichton


----------



## Deke40

"Shameless"-Ace Atkins


----------



## Deke40

"Game of Snipers"-Stephen Hunter


----------



## Deke40

"Dark Site"-Patrick Lee


----------



## Deke40

"A Dangerous Man"-Robert Crais


----------



## valis

Ice Station Zebra, by MacLean. Good book for a HHHOTTTTT south Texas summer day.


----------



## Deke40

"The Inn"-James Patterson


----------



## ekim68

2019 Hugo Awards Announced


----------



## Deke40

"The Russian"-Ben Coes


----------



## Deke40

"The Last Good Guy"-T. Jefferson Parker


----------



## Deke40

"Land Of Wolves"-Craig Johnson


----------



## ekim68

A friend of mine has been recommending The Wheel in Time series by Robert Jordan so I've got the first book which is The Eye of the World..

As an aside, another opinion... 


The 100 best books of the 21st century


----------



## Gr3iz

I enjoyed the WOT series, but I think it may have dragged out just a bit toward the end ...


----------



## ekim68

I'll keep that in mind. I thought the same thing about the Dune series...


----------



## valis

Waaaaay back in the day, late 80s or maybe early 90's, buddy of mine was heavily into that series. That was after my fantasy days though so I never picked it up. From what I have heard, Mike, this will be right up your alley. See ya around March of 2021 when you finish the series. 

And go Astros!


----------



## ekim68

Astros? What's that?


----------



## valis

Lol...get bent hoser....


----------



## valis

Seriously though, methinks those books are gonna grab you by the throat and pin you down, knowing your preferences. He has been compared to Eddings, after all. Enjoy and again, as I have not and most likely will not read them, I look forward to your input. Enjoy!


----------



## ekim68

Thanks Tim. When the rainy season comes, now, it's good to read a book..  And having something baking in the Oven..


----------



## valis

Enjoy hondo. Good read on Eddings here...last two sentences make it. Dude was waaaaay underrated IMO.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/in-the-world-of-fantasy-literature-david-eddings-is-tr-1694047046


----------



## valis

The Belgariad may have been the last high fantasy series I read. Started with Tolkien of course, then to Thomas Covenant (which impressed me so much my wedding ring, 25 years later, was white gold) and I am fairly certain I finished with Eddings.

All that said, my favorite book of his is The Losers. Pacific NW and all....


----------



## ekim68

The Losers? Huh... I'll check it out... I've read The Belgariad a few times, but you know that... I get charged up reading my favorite Hero stories..


----------



## Deke40

Runaway-Harlan Coben(This is the second of his books that I didn't finish. Either my reading habits are changing are his writing style has.)


----------



## Deke40

The Girl Buried In The Woods-Robert Ellis


----------



## valis

the new Virgil Flowers book...Bloody Genius...


----------



## Deke40

I have got so use to reading E books that it takes awhile at my local libray to get one.

I'm to tight to pay kindle prices.


----------



## Deke40

This Tender Land-William Kent Krueger


----------



## Deke40

Bloody Genius-John Sandford

The Russian Account-Stephen Coonts


----------



## valis

Bloody Genius was highly entertaining.....

The Chamber, John Grisham


----------



## Shenifeland

Bought Zadie Smith's books a while back but only getting to them now. Finished White Teeth first.


----------



## Deke40

The Night Fire-Michael Connelly


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It's been a long long time since I read it the first time.


----------



## Skivvywaver

Where the crawdads sing.


----------



## Skivvywaver

ekim68 said:


> Just finished Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It's been a long long time since I read it the first time.


 I've read that one to death Mike. Twain is a favorite and has been since I was old enough to read him. About 52 years now I figure as I was 8-9 years old the first go around. I have a collection that is all one book that I bought used. Pages are very thin.


----------



## ekim68

Good to see you around Scott. I have a number of favorite authors and most are more recent than Twain. I just happened to be in a used bookstore and saw Huckleberry laying on a counter and scooped it. I misremembered a lot of it, but then again I've forgotten more than I really ever thought I knew...


----------



## valis

Rick Riordan, Mission Road....

Funny story...I was reading the first novel in this series (Tres Navarre series) and my son was reading the Percy Jackson series...neither of us had any idea we both liked the same author. Gotta love that, sharing books with the kid.

Mike, I gave him Eddings 'The Losers' in hopes of turning him onto his work...


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> Just started a four book series by George R. R. Martin call "A Song of Ice and Fire"....I was never into monarchies and castles and such, but the intrigue of back stabbing within the family is intriguing...


lol...tripped ovee this and wow how times have changed...


----------



## valis

Fatherland, Robert Harris. Good detective read.


----------



## Deke40

In to The Fire by Gregg Hurwitz


----------



## ekim68

Just started Age of Death by Michael Sullivan. The guy is a good story teller..


----------



## Deke40

The Big Lie-James Grippando


----------



## valis

Skin Tight - Carl Hiassen


----------



## xerses

I am sorry, this is absolute not fiction, but it is very interesting: Third Reich Rise & Fall


----------



## jebc

Rated
Book by Melissa Grey


----------



## ekim68

I'm reading Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce and basically it's about Street Cops in a Fictional Land. I just had to smile when I came across this diatribe by one of the Main Characters who got beat up and couldn't go on a job.. 



> "Scummer, pox, and wound rot!" Roared Tunstall, slapping his fist down on the bed. "Gods curse the pig-tarsed mammering craven currish beef-witted bum-licking gut-griping louts that did this to me! May every flea, leech, and hookworm in all creation find and feast on them!"


----------



## Gr3iz

Clifford D. Simak -- The Complete Short Fiction

There are several volumes. I'm on the second one now. Rally good science fiction writer! I can really visualize the story, as if I'm watching a movie in my head! Few writers can command the English language that well, IMHO. Some stories are better than others, but generally good stuff! Most of these strories had been entries in the old sci-fi magazines of the 40s and 50s.


----------



## cornemuse

Right now I'm reading 'The Constant Gardener' by John Le Carre. About a ¼ way through it. Good story! Previously 'The Night Manager' by Le Carre also, a most excellent story. Another one was 'The Thorn Birds', (made into a mini-series long ago), by Colleen McCullough, Very good story till about ¾ of the way through, it seems like she lost interest in writing the rest of it & made a perfunctory effort to finish it.


----------



## valis

Night Manager ranks way high with me...not so much an espionage book as a moral tale...


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce... I'm a Young Adult at heart...


----------



## ekim68

Not sure how you feel about movies/shows being made out of books, but so far over the last ten years I've been unimpressed.. Several real Duds and I much rather interpret the books with my perception. The reason I've brought this up is that Apple's gonna make a series from Foundation by Asimov and I'm not impressed.
Here's a Teaser and it looks like a lot of other action pictures as of late..


----------



## Johnny b

For people with out imaginations, there is CGI.
Small details can become a distraction from the intended focus.
Story lines are manipulated to favor the eye rather than the mind.

Not always, just too often.

TV is a lot worse 
It's done on the cheap lol!


( imo, obviously )


----------



## steppenwolf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reveries_of_a_Bachelor

The first two reveries were originally published in 1849 in the magazine _Southern Literary Messenger_ and in 1850 the four essays were published in book format to great public acclaim.[1]

It was one of poet Emily Dickinson's favorite books.[2]

small print book i found taking me 20 years to finish

https://archive.org/stream/reveriesabachel00mitcgoog/reveriesabachel00mitcgoog_djvu.txt


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> Not sure how you feel about movies/shows being made out of books, but so far over the last ten years I've been unimpressed.. Several real Duds and I much rather interpret the books with my perception. The reason I've brought this up is that Apple's gonna make a series from Foundation by Asimov and I'm not impressed.
> Here's a Teaser and it looks like a lot of other action pictures as of late..


I know that the LOTR flicks garnered huge praise and a bit more dollars....and I am a huge fan but of the books...my parents had a very bad divorce beginning in the late 70s and I escaped into Middle Earth (and Thomas Covenant, mention for ekim) and I am sorry...
Peter Jackson did an awesome job but it simply cannot compare to what my imagination created for me to escape to.

Obviously just my view as that is one of the highest grossinh flicks ever....but it aint the one I see...


----------



## valis

and no, I wont even think about watching Foundation....no way in hades that can be made into a movie worth watching....

I can see Hopkins as Seldon though...I will say that....


----------



## ekim68

Hopkins? Have to think on that one.. And after almost a decade of recommendations from you, I got Thomas Covenant sitting on my table right now, although I've got three other books ahead of it, and I'm still twisting my brain finishing up Hawking's book.


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> Hopkins? Have to think on that one.. And after almost a decade of recommendations from you, I got Thomas Covenant sitting on my table right now, although I've got three other books ahead of it, and I'm still twisting my brain finishing up Hawking's book.


ur-Lord and White Gold Wielder....and yes my wedding ring is white gold...

those books, to me, are up there...


----------



## valis

and Hawking twisting ones brain is not exactly a bad thing...

stay safe man and keep washing those hands!


----------



## ekim68

Just got Age of Empyre by Michael Sullivan and it finishes up a six-book series, finally....!


----------



## valis

Without Remorse by Clancy...easily his best IMO


----------



## RT

valis said:


> I know that the LOTR flicks garnered huge praise and a bit more dollars....and I am a huge fan but of the books...my parents had a very bad divorce beginning in the late 70s and I escaped into Middle Earth (and Thomas Covenant, mention for ekim) and I am sorry...
> Peter Jackson did an awesome job but it simply cannot compare to what my imagination created for me to escape to.


I must say that LOTR triogly rates highly here as a read and a watch.
The read started with The Hobbit in high school, very popular, but some "ingested" it more than others.
Those folks became my friends, somehow.

Interesting that three movies were made from that one Hobbit book, and one movie made from each book of the following trilogy.

But let me quote Tim once again:


valis said:


> I escaped into Middle Earth (and Thomas Covenant, mention for ekim) and I am sorry...
> Peter Jackson did an awesome job but it simply cannot compare to what my imagination created for me to escape to.


 Your imagination, mine....and others.
Escape to another realm, cinema tries, but can rarely duplicate the emotions and awe inspired the strange mix of the written words when you read something that creates a different reality in your mind, opens new doors.

Thomas Covenant.....
uh, at one point in my life, wished I had contracted leprosy (sorry, Hansen's disease) but I didn't >phew< 
because I wanted that door opened, too. 
To escape to.

Real life has a funny way of coming 'round to slap you in the face with a wet fish, or piece of crap that has hit the fan.


----------



## valis

RT said:


> I must say that LOTR triogly rates highly here as a read and a watch.
> The read started with The Hobbit in high school, very popular, but some "ingested" it more than others.
> Those folks became my friends, somehow.
> 
> Interesting that three movies were made from that one Hobbit book, and one movie made from each book of the following trilogy.
> 
> But let me quote Tim once again:
> Your imagination, mine....and others.
> Escape to another realm, cinema tries, but can rarely duplicate the emotions and awe inspired the strange mix of the written words when you read something that creates a different reality in your mind, opens new doors.
> 
> Thomas Covenant.....
> uh, at one point in my life, wished I had contracted leprosy (sorry, Hansen's disease) but I didn't >phew<
> because I wanted that door opened, too.
> To escape to.
> 
> Real life has a funny way of coming 'round to slap you in the face with a wet fish, or piece of crap that has hit the fan.


there is a reason my wedding ring is white gold....


----------



## cornemuse

Just started "The Gates of Creation" by Philip Jose Farmer. Read it years ago, He used a lot of names from William Blakes charactors, another truly strange man.


----------



## Gr3iz

Reading the Complete Works of Lewis Carroll -- Quite a lengthy tome!


----------



## valis

cornemuse said:


> Just started "The Gates of Creation" by Philip Jose Farmer. Read it years ago, He used a lot of names from William Blakes charactors, another truly strange man.


Farmer, IMHO, is very underrated...


----------



## valis

RT said:


> ...
> Real life has a funny way of coming 'round to slap you in the face with a wet fish, or piece of crap that has hit the fan.


why am I thinking Python here? 😄

but yeah, Covenant was key to me at those times.

As was Pern.

And Shannara.

And the Belgariad.

What got me out of fantasy and into SciFi was Ringworld, belive it or not. Then Varley's Titan (funny story about that, with CIA and Red Curtain and Arabian qiarterhorses) then Heinlein and off I went..eventually tripped over PKD and Asimov....


----------



## valis

sorry that is not correct...I was also a fan of Xanth and that lead me to Macroscope....THEN Niven....

Xanth didnt stand the test of time Macroscope sure as heck did....


----------



## valis

ya know...here is a fun question...what is the first book you can remember reading all by your toddler self? Got Flat Stanley here....


----------



## Gr3iz

I know I read just about every book in the classroom in 2nd grade, but I couldn't tell you a single title. That was many, many moons ago! About a year before we lost JFK ...


----------



## Gr3iz

First fantasy I can recall was as a teen. I picked up the Hobbit at a friend's house and couldn't put it down!


----------



## RT

valis said:


> ya know...here is a fun question...what is the first book you can remember reading all by your toddler self? Got Flat Stanley here....


Well it must have been something by Dr Suess, I'd reckon
Also recall how the alphabet did beckon
Me into reading the letters on my Grandma's washing machine
It was a Westinghouse, lots of letters for a toddler, if you know what I mean!


----------



## valis

totally know....Clairol was the first word I was proud of as I learned about the soft 'o'....


----------



## valis

btw after Flat Stanley was the Frog and Toad....


----------



## valis

Gr3iz said:


> I know I read just about every book in the classroom in 2nd grade, but I couldn't tell you a single title. That was many, many moons ago! About a year before we lost JFK ...


there will never be a better smell than a well stocked library...


----------



## ekim68

Library? What's that?


----------



## RT

@valis Tim you've mentioned a virtual cornucopia of stuff I recall reading in the scify/fantasy genre.
Ringworld series was exceptional, I recall Xanth too. I'm fuzzy on Macroscope, not sure I read that but am aware of it.
Remember the Niven/Pournelle collabs? Like The Mote in God's Eye, Inferno, and uh, that other one...(brain fart  ) you know it...?

Re: Tolkien. In high school, if you were a Hobbit ya had to read Farmer Giles of Ham, just because it was Tolkien ;0


----------



## RT

ekim68 said:


> Library? What's that?


Tim mentioned the smell of it, mine smells like...uh... kinda dusty


----------



## ekim68

You have a Library?


----------



## RT

Not really, it's just a dusty containment wall sized vessel for books (both paperback and hard cover) that serves as a large furniture storage receptacle for collecting dust.
And VHS tapes.
Dang it... I'm sure there's something useful or valuable in there....
I'm scared to look at it, much less delve into it 

But I'm absolutely certain I have at least two books that you, nor anyone on TSG has.


----------



## valis

RT said:


> Not really, it's just a dusty containment wall sized vessel for books (both paperback and hard cover) that serves as a large furniture storage receptacle for collecting dust.
> And VHS tapes.
> Dang it... I'm sure there's something useful or valuable in there....
> I'm scared to look at it, much less delve into it
> 
> But I'm absolutely certain I have at least two books that you, nor anyone on TSG has.


hmmmm....curious as to what those two are.....


----------



## valis

as an aside, Macroscope is still a great read.....taught me Sprouts and Nate loves that game....

also the SDPS....lol


----------



## RT

valis said:


> hmmmm....curious as to what those two are.....


Of course you are curious, so...the next logical step is...
Dammit, I knew I'd have to prove it!

OK, two unique books are a personally autographed cook book and children's book by Dom DeLuise, one I've already posted in the Celebrity Death thread, I think because I bragged about speaking with him on the phone, he sent me two books. 

But *they* are *not* what I was referring to in this case... lemme charge the camera battery, put on a dust mask, delve into the shelves, because if I just said the titles of the books, it wouldn't mean anything, atm.


----------



## valis

Dude…..you got to chat with Dom? Please tell me you talked about Cannonball....


----------



## RT

Yes, we did.
And Blazing Saddles too, not to mention Johnny Carson (too late) , his voice overs in various films... and his son in that submarine show..? Can't recall his son's name now, but I did say so at the time
The story (I think) was told somewhere in that link I posted.
Tim, we can talk about about that later, because he only called by a unique and a fortunate series of events, the roll of the dice, that somehow ended up with him talking with me. That involved my wife's cancer, unfortunately.

He called to speak with her, but after a chemo session, she couldn't speak, at that time.
So I took the call.
goddamit, i actually told him I didn't like Fatso, embaressed to say that, there were only two folks in the theater when I saw it.
He understood, somehow.
And he revealed to me some personal details about his own health issues.

Well, I didn't mean to go on so, think he was somewhat disappointed I wasn't a gushing fan, but given the circumstances, I was so tired after chemo, he said I sounded calm...
nope, just exhausted...
was not prepared for the call, even tho I'd been given a heads up in advance.
could have snipped all that into a PM, but there it is, more or less, and the series of events that led to that phone call, I'll reveal, if asked. RE: Heads up!


Meanwhile, I have those other two books to exhume from the tomb.


----------



## ekim68

Well I finally got started on Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson and it was a slow start. After a hundred pages I'm settled in....


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> Well I finally got started on Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson and it was a slow start. After a hundred pages I'm settled in....


rock on...looking forward to the ekim review...


----------



## RT

valis said:


> hmmmm....curious as to what those two are.....


Ah, yes...
Well I should have checked first, as they are seemingly not here, amongst the dust.
I've had a bunch more books packed up in boxes at my Mom's house for years, just have yet to get into that stuff, they must be there.

So to quell the curious, they are off topic (_i.e.,_ non-fiction) but were hard backs (which I have but a handul of) one title is The Handbook of Unusual Weather Phenomnea (I _think?_) and the other title can't recall, but dealt with telescopes (all kinds, plus how to build them, including grinding your own mirror.) Hey, I was after facts of all sorts back then 

So no big deal, nothing to write home about.

Howerver here, I did find some old pulp copies of the old Fantasy and Science Fiction rags from the '80s.
Dunno why I even have those.... spent some time in a used book store thoses days.


----------



## ekim68

valis said:


> rock on...looking forward to the ekim review...


Well I finished it and it was a heck of a ride...  I enjoyed it and had to look up a number of words, but that's okay because I'm a small town kid...  I saw that there were 10 books in the series and I may get back to them, however I just got Seeds of Man by Woody Guthrie so that's next on the list..


----------



## valis

the first three are all you need....the second trilogy is optional but Ive read it once and havent since....sorta like Pern anything after the first trilogy is for cash....but man...the characters in the original Covenant series.....Bannor alone makes for a good read...


----------



## RT

Just as an aside, I also found while looking around here, several works by Clive Barker, Dean Koontz, a big thick one by S. M. Sterling (Island in the Sea of Time) plus another by Sterling), and many others I can't recall atm, but one (of several) that puzzles me - The Best of Wilson Tucker.
There's more on the shelf, but I'd have to go look again and make a list.

It's funny, but sad now, my long gone reader friends and I would swap books to the extent that who knows who bought what, and whom did ya lend it to?
Dunno which I bought, which were exchanged.

Suffice to say, I bought some that were never returned, and vice versa.
I do recall trying to return a book to my buddy, but he said "That's OK, pass it on, already read it, that's why I gave it to you."

Memory cells have a funny way of getting stuck in the bottom of the stack, seemingly dead, then suddenly emerge as though they've just been hibernating all along.


----------



## valis

reading Westlakes 'Bad News'...


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## Gr3iz

Lost interest in Louis Carroll's stories. Too tedious for me.

Started The Complete Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 

I read on a tablet so it is always handy and I can have many books at my disposal, in case I finish one. Most of the books I read are 300-500, or so, pages. This one is 26,000 +! It will be a while before I get through this one!


----------



## valis

Gr3iz said:


> Lost interest in Louis Carroll's stories. Too tedious for me.
> 
> Started The Complete Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
> 
> I read on a tablet so it is always handy and I can have many books at my disposal, in case I finish one. Most of the books I read are 300-500, or so, pages. This one is 26,000 +! It will be a while before I get through this one!


i got very sick in 7th grade and was bedridden for about 6 months....mom got me that collection (obv analogue back then)and man I still love them...


----------



## Gr3iz

I've heard a few old time radio broadcasts I've downloaded of Sherlock Holmes. I always seem to get more out of stories if I read them, rather than hear, or even see, them.


----------



## ekim68

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.....


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## valis

goooood read


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## RT

Gr3iz said:


> I've heard a few old time radio broadcasts I've downloaded of Sherlock Holmes. I always seem to get more out of stories if I read them, rather than hear, or even see, them.


That reminds me of some umpteen scores of years ago, when the local library actually had some Super 8mm films of some of the Sherlock shows, which I borrowed and treated with kid gloves.
(Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce) the 1930s and '40s flicks.
Had the impression I was the only one to have ever checked them out.
Wonder if they're if they're still there...probably not of film stock, perhaps on VHS or disc...maybe.


----------



## ekim68

It's been a while so it's time to reread The Belgariad series...


----------



## Professionalgirl

The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorn and Harlequin Romance novels.


----------



## TsFBob

The pillars of the earth is very good


----------



## ekim68

I just finished The Belgariad series, yet again , and I'm gonna post some paragraphs that are so cool.. 
This one is from one Knight to Another.. 



> Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. "My Lord,"
> 
> the great knight said distantly, "I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen.
> 
> Thy beard, moreover, is an offense against decency , resembling more closely
> 
> the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than
> 
> a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possible that thy mother, seized
> 
> by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?"


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## valis

I read the Belgariad to death but man you got me in spades.....I still prefer The Losers.....

Just out of curiuosity....does the term Lord Mhoram mean anything? That was my series I got stuck on.....that and Shannara


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## ekim68

There are soooo many fun quotable conversations in the Belgariad and I'm gonna try to bring some up every once in a while... 

I don't recall a Lord Mhoram but I'm curious and as for Shannara, I read it all a couple of times for a few years. Fantastic stories and heroes and quests; I love quests..  However, when they made movies out of The Elfstones of Shannara, twice, they weren't what I perceived at all...  We could start a list on how many bad movies are made from good books...


----------



## valis

Lord Mhoram >> Thomas Covenant series.....ur-lord and white gold wielder....


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## ekim68

Oh, that Lord Mhoram....


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## valis

ekim68 said:


> Oh, that Lord Mhoram....


LOL!


----------



## valis

Yeah there are soooo many....


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## valis

Rule Of Four....reaaallly forgot how good this was


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## valis

one for you Mike.....Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptonomicon


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## ekim68

Thanks Tim, it's on my list now. I'm taking a break from Fiction right now to try and finish Until the End of Time by Brian Greene. I have to walk outside and clear my head before starting each chapter....


----------



## renegade600

currently reading Adventurers Wanted: The Sands of Nezza, Book 4


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The Legend of the Kestrel by Peter Wacht. It started out slow but picked up steam and became a pretty good story. Book two has been ordered...


----------



## cornemuse

"The Mote in Gods Eye" Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle 
First contact with aliens.
A good story!


----------



## valis

GREAT read....


----------



## valis

One for Mike....re-reading after a decade or so, forgot how fun it is.

Neal Stephenson The Diamond Age


----------



## ekim68

Thanks for the tip Tim... :up: Just got my copy of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir...


----------



## MisterEd51

cornemuse said:


> "The Mote in Gods Eye" Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
> First contact with aliens.
> A good story!


I thought I had that book. I must have bought it over 40 years ago. It's been so long since I last read it I forgot almost everything about it. That means its time to read it again.

I see I paid $1.95 for it. Back then I thought $1.95 was a lot for a paperback book.


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## ekim68

Just finished Project Hail Mary by Weir and it was a fun ride. I'll reread it again within the year... Shout out to Tim--I recommend it.... :up:


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## cornemuse

Lately I've been re-reading the 'Travis Magee' series by John D MacDonald. Pretty good stuff! He wrote a lot of other types of fiction too.

I started reading him in the mid/late '60's whilst in the USAF

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._MacDonald#Travis_McGee_series

His other stuff is just as good, , , , ,


----------



## valis

Got Edding's The Losers on my forecast...I know he is your man....


----------



## ekim68

Yep, he's da Man.... 

Just started Elenium by David Eddings...


----------



## cornemuse

Just started reading "*The Tin Drum*" by Gunther Grass.
Almost 400 pages & very small type! Gonna take a while.
Saw the movie years ago, will see what was left out, , , ,


----------



## RT

This not on topic for they are autobiographies....but I'll bet you there's a bit of fiction in there ;0
Peter Ustinov's "Dear Me."
And Tim Allen's "I'm Not Really Here."


----------



## ekim68

I just started Still Life by Louise Penny... Seems we have the whole 17-book series..


----------



## Johnny b

Nemesis Games


----------



## renegade600

Just started with the _Witch of the Federation ll_


----------



## cornemuse

> Just started reading "*The Tin Drum*" by Gunther Grass.
> Almost 400 pages & very small type! Gonna take a while.
> Saw the movie years ago, will see what was left out, , , ,
> (7 july21)


 Its actually almost 600 pages! 
I am at page 141. (19sept21)
Some of it is outrageously funny!! Nothing is sacred, , , ,


----------



## ekim68

Just picked up The Templars by Dan Jones.


----------



## ekim68

Just received The Elder Gods which is the first book of The Dreamers series by David Eddings.


----------



## ekim68

Just started To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini and after a slow start it's picking up steam.. :up:


----------



## ekim68

I finally got around to reading The Elder Gods by David and Leigh Eddings and once again I'm enjoying the dialogues of the characters.  The conversational inflections and colloquialisms show the Author's wit and sarcasm.... Fun stuff...


----------



## valis

Knee deep in Guns of Navarone....do love Alistair.


----------



## eddie5659

Nemesis by Bill Napier

I liked it, very tense in parts, and the speech now and then goes into a lot of depth.


----------



## Tildy

One I missed....old
James Patterson
Along Came a Spider


----------



## valis

Not fiction but still a good read...one for you Johnny....

Life in the Fast Lane; Tales of an F1 Mechanic by Steve Matchett. Yes, that is him on fire on the cover.


----------



## renegade600

If you like Harry Potter, you will like Druid Academy. They both are very much alike with similar story elements.


----------



## valis

Here ya go Mike....more up your alley than mine but a couple reads Im gonna try.

https://gizmodo.com/10-science-fantasy-book-recommendations-brian-k-vaugha-1848847441/slides/10


----------



## ekim68

There are some pretty cool cover art in that list... 

:up:


----------



## Gr3iz

Reading _Robinson Crusoe_ on my tablet in my bedroom (I read for a short time before bed each night) and Jean Shepherd's _In God We Trust; All Others Pay Cash_ on my other tablet (for when I sit outside and read or have to sit in a doctor's waiting room).

Jean Shepherd used to have a nightly radio talk show in the NYC area. He'd tell all kinds of stories about his youth in northern Indiana and Army stories. The classic Christmas show _A Christmas Story_ is his, he's the narrator. He's got a great storytelling voice. There are hundreds of his old broadcasts floating around the 'net.


----------



## valis

Shepherd is a fantastic writer; I have In God We Trust and now starting to think it is time to re-read it.

If you like him, you may want to check out Bill Bryson. Specifically A Walk in the Woods.


----------



## Gr3iz

Have you ever heard any of his old radio shows, Tim? Last trip up north, I listened to dozens of them. I really like his old Army stories ... ;-)


----------



## valis

I have but it was years ago, like early 80s years ago, and I cannot remember a single part of them. I need to revisit those as he is one helluva storyteller. Sorta like that Keillor dude.


----------



## Gr3iz

Yeah, Garrison Keillor is another great storyteller. His tales of Lake Wobegon are classic! ;-)


----------



## ekim68

I just finished Mastiff by Tamora Pierce and just started Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov. What a difference in the Authors' style. 
Asimov wrote Prelude in 1988 which was forty years after he wrote the original Foundation series. True to form I have to put my Science Hat on to understand even a paragraph...


----------



## valis

Foindation is one of the best hard sci fi trilogies out there. If not THE best...


----------



## ekim68

I've only read a couple of these so it's time to expand my list... 


12 Novels That Won Both the Hugo and Nebula Awards



> In narrative science fiction, there is no higher honor than earning a Hugo Award or Nebula Award-unless, of course, you win both.
> 
> The Hugo, named after sci-fi editor Hugo Gernsback and first presented in 1953, is voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Society; the Nebula has been handed out by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America to honor the work of their peers since 1965.


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> I've only read a couple of these so it's time to expand my list...
> 
> 
> 12 Novels That Won Both the Hugo and Nebula Awards


Well, there goes my weekend.

BTW Mike, Im on vacation for a week, and got Tales from the White Hart up now, then the first 3 Silver John books. But that list you gave needs perusing...


----------



## valis

Man....only read 4 of them...1,2,7 and 8....I have looked at Chabon more than once, pretty sure it will end up on my shelf.


----------



## ekim68

I just finished Prelude to Foundation and it was really entertaining... :up: I will reread the Foundation trilogy later just as soon as I take care of a couple sitting on the table..


----------



## PeterOz

ekim68 said:


> The battle of Troy sequence would make Homer proud,


Homer simpson was at the battle of Troy
I don't believe it


----------



## ekim68

Just started the Witches of Karres by James Schmitz. I've read this before and it's a fun story about a Space Captain and his continual effort to hold his ship together...


----------



## Gr3iz

Just starting two new books (on two tablets, one for bedtime reading, the other for doctor office reading).

Daytime reading: _The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy_ 2017.
Bedtime reading: Dean Koontz -- _By the Light of the Moon_.

Only got about 2/3 through _Robinson Crusoe_. Got too religious for my taste ...


----------



## valis

Gr3iz said:


> Just starting two new books (on two tablets, one for bedtime reading, the other for doctor office reading).
> 
> Daytime reading: _The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy_ 2017.
> Bedtime reading: Dean Koontz -- _By the Light of the Moon_.
> 
> Only got about 2/3 through _Robinson Crusoe_. Got too religious for my taste ...


Good ol Dean... vastly underrated imo...


----------



## Gr3iz

I've read a few of his books and enjoyed them. Read the whole Odd Thomas series.


----------



## renegade600

Currently listening to Dragon Assassin. My eyes are too bad to do too much reading these days so it is audiobooks.


----------



## ekim68

One of things that I find fascinating while reading are the combinations of words I did not know.. 
As an example this is a line from the book I'm reading now:



> The Daal's penuriousness was proverbial on Uldune.


----------



## ekim68

Just started Nolyn by Michael Sullivan, the first of a trilogy that links the Age of Legend series with the Riyria Revelations series. I've been following this story line for eleven years..


----------



## ekim68

I started Artemis by Andy Weir today and it's on a roll quickly.. :up:


----------



## ekim68

Although not Fiction I'm currently reading Einstein by Walter Isaacson and I like this line.... 



> Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.


----------



## ekim68

I just started The Hills Have Spies by Mercedes Lackey and it's an easy read compared to the Einstein book..


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> I just started The Hills Have Spies by Mercedes Lackey and it's an easy read compared to the Einstein book..


Well, to be fair, most books likely are. 

By the by...got Le Twit a few books as he is so far outstripping me in math it has ceased to be humorous....

Feynman, Surely you Jest, Mr Feynman
Hawking, A Brief History of Time
Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything.

All hardbacks, told him no tests EXCEPT I want to see those on his bookshelf in a decade.


----------



## ekim68

After a couple of Fantasy books I'm back to Science Fiction with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.... Probably my all time favorite from him..


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> After a couple of Fantasy books I'm back to Science Fiction with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.... Probably my all time favorite from him..


 Man, it is indeed time to re-read that.

My fave of his is Cat Who Walks Through Walls which shares a character or two.


----------



## valis

You know, more I think about it, Cat is 2. Number of the Beast is numero uno.

Not a bad problem to have, choosing a favorite Heinlein yarn....


----------



## ekim68

I thoroughly enjoyed Number of the Beast and I'll probably reread that soon. Heinlein has Style..


----------



## valis

ekim68 said:


> I thoroughly enjoyed Number of the Beast and I'll probably reread that soon. Heinlein has Style..


I pointed you at Sliverlock, right? If you liked Number, you will like Silverlock.

As well as Job: A Comedy of Justice.


----------



## ekim68

I don't think I heard of Sliverlock so that's on the list.. :up: I do have Job: A Comedy of Justice and it's a keeper also..


----------



## valis

My apologies....should have pointed you there earlier....would have sworn I did...


----------



## valis

Silverlock is more fantasy than hard sci fi but explores the same theme of bouncing betwixt fictitious worlds. All three of them (Number, Job, and Silverlock) I literally consider a trilogy....


----------



## ekim68

Just finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein and I forgot about the 'Wow' ending... 

Tanstaafl...... !


----------



## valis

kid has actually used that in his phsyics class btw.....very, very proud of that. Teach did of course know about it, but still he broke it out.


----------



## valis

'Salem's Lot

Arguably the scariest book Ive ever read. That or the Exorcist. Maybe Ghost Story too.


----------



## ekim68

Went to a second hand store today and picked up two books by Janet and Isaac Asimov and they're about the robot Norby. Seems they're the second and third book of a trilogy. (The Norby Chronicles)

I decided to order the first book online and found it for $5.00. Should be here next week and I'll start from the beginning..


----------



## renegade600

currently listening to the _Legend of the Arch Magus, Book 1 _again.


----------



## ekim68

I just finished Uranus by Ben Bova and it was a kind of slow/go story....


----------



## ekim68

I just started Machine by Elizabeth Bear and it's got a good energy level. I'm learning new words such as: Galactic Synizens, Acculturation, Secondaries, Corpsicles ...


----------



## Gr3iz

On bedroom tablet, now reading the _Longsword Chronicles_ by G.J. Kelly.


----------



## ekim68

I just finished Machine by Elizabeth Bear and I liked it. I'm just starting the first book of The Norby Chronicles, Norby: Robot For Hire, by Janet and Isaac Asimov.


----------



## cornemuse

Started reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Actually reading it_ again_!


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Double Contact by James White and I'll probably read it again some day. We went to a yard sale the other day and picked up Outward Bound by Robert Heinlein and it's next..


----------



## ekim68

Just finished Have Spacesuit--Will Travel by Heinlein and I'm fairly convinced that he was on Psychedelics when he wrote this..


----------



## RT

Well Scifi happens ... because of (or in spite of)
the minds of those who have open minds.

Arthur C Clarke envisioned = satellite = before any satellite was invented or launched.
Cell phones (flip) were based on Star Trek communicators.
Holograms, cryogenics, space stations. bionic limbs...etc...

All science fiction is fiction, until it becomes science fact. 

OK, cryogenics needs a bit more work 🤷


----------



## ekim68

Just picked up The Robots of Dawn by Asimov and it started slow but is picking up steam.. 

I thought I'd post this and I've only read five of them.. 


24 Novels That Won Both the Hugo and Nebula Awards


----------



## valis

Wait....youve not read Robots before? Wonderful series. Daneel and gang.


----------



## ekim68

That's right, I've not read the Robots before but I've met Daneel now and it's a cool read..


----------



## RT

ekim68 said:


> 24 Novels That Won Both the Hugo and Nebula Awards


Having checked that link, I'm ashamed to say there's a handful I haven't read or wasn't even aware of.
Some I only know by movies, or short stories on TV... which isn't the same thing at all 🤷

With vision fading and print too small, maybe it's time to consider audio books before my hearing goes too


----------



## valis

I have read most of the first 10 or 12....after that, havent even HEARD of the authors....


----------



## RT

valis said:


> I have read most of the first 10 or 12....after that, havent even HEARD of the authors....


Well that makes me feel a little better 

Back in the day I knew the main Hugo's and Nebula winners (and runner ups), but have been lax for quite some time.
And there was a John Campbell award as well...

Now days, I only recall the parody from the movie Paul, which won a "Nebulon" award


----------



## ekim68

Well I finished The Robots of Dawn and I've started Robots and Empire by Asimov. I don't know why I didn't read more of Asimov when I was younger, the books have been good reads...


----------



## ekim68

Well I've gotten into James White and I just received the first three books in the Sector General series and it's a kick. (When you think about it, you can have a lot of stories from an intergalactic hospital and the different species who operate it and are recipients of it.)

As an aside: We went to a second hand store and found The Wishsong of Shannara by Terry Brooks and it's one of my four favorites from his Shannara series... Next on the list..


----------



## PeterOz

ekim68 said:


> The Moon is a Harsh Mistress





> It is the year 2076, and the Moon is a penal colony for the rebellious and the unwanted of Earth


Sounds like America first 1718 and Australia 1788. The Moon 2076
Am I the only one seeing a pattern here?


----------



## Brigham

ekim68 said:


> Well I finished The Robots of Dawn and I've started Robots and Empire by Asimov. I don't know why I didn't read more of Asimov when I was younger, the books have been good reads...


I started reading sci fi when I was 15. Asimov was my first author that I followed avidly. I am now 88 and still re-reading some Asimov.


----------



## valis

Brigham said:


> I started reading sci fi when I was 15. Asimov was my first author that I followed avidly. I am now 88 and still re-reading some Asimov.


Asimov is brilliant. I was bedridden for a year in my early days, and Mom got me into Doyle. We were very remote and had a bookmobile come by weekly at the community center. Driver was a WW2 marine, looked to my 12 year old butt like an old crusty grizzly bear. Asked him about Doyle and Holmes and he gave me a copy of the Black Widowers Club and I was off on my lifetime appreciation of Asimov's brilliance.

By the by, Mikey, he is also the guy who turned me onto White Hart AND Silver John.

Heinlein I found on my own.


----------



## valis

My reading tree against age lol....

Started with the LA Times and that ended early (taught myself to read eith that).

Frog and Toad.
Boxcar Kids
Hardy Boys
Encyclopedia Griffin
Three Investigators
Young Scientists Club

Then came Pern, and I lost a couple years. Then Shannara, then Thomas Covenant (an aside, my wedding ring is white gold after that series).

Then got twigged to Asimov and off I went.

Nowadays, I still read hard sci-fi (e.g, Macroscope, but not Xanth) and a ton of detective stories.

On a Spenser kick now. Finished a Pendergast run earlier this summer.


----------



## ekim68

Well I just finished the first book in the Sector General series by James White and having a Galactic Hospital is a cool venue..  This author started out pretty rudimentary but is getting more chops as he goes along..


----------



## eddie5659

Just about to hit a new book, All Quiet on the Western Front. Watched the film, it was very good. Had to watch it dubbed so all could watch easily but gonna watch on my own in original language sometime.

So, bought the book, and looking forward to it, as although its what happened, its still a 'story'


----------



## valis

eddie5659 said:


> Just about to hit a new book, All Quiet on the Western Front. Watched the film, it was very good. Had to watch it dubbed so all could watch easily but gonna watch on my own in original language sometime.
> 
> So, bought the book, and looking forward to it, as although its what happened, its still a 'story'


Great, and extremely powerful, read.


----------



## ekim68

I just finished the third book in the Sector General series by James White and it was a good story. However, there were some parts/words where he should have used a few proofreaders..


----------



## ekim68

I received several books for Christmas and one of them is Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds and it's the first of the Inhibitor Trilogy. I'm gonna start on it as soon as I finish Starry Messenger by Neil Degrasse Tyson.


----------



## valis

Let me know about Messenger...I have heard very good things about it, but it IS NDT so hard to go wrong.


----------



## ekim68

Messenger is a real good read and I've zipped through it. He does a good job with data analysis and a history of the world..


----------



## ekim68

I'm interrupting my fiction book reading and started in on Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson. I've had this sitting on my shelf for a while so it's time to meet Ben..


----------



## Gr3iz

Just started _Chariots of the Gods_ by Erich von Daniken.


----------



## valis

Dad is a huge Van Daniken fan. Me, not so much.


----------



## Gr3iz

I'm not far enough into it to evaluate it, yet.


----------

