Read any good books lately?

Thanks, guys. I picked up Leviathan Wakes by James Corey from the library, and I'm liking it so far. I'm 130 pages in. Like you said, Kerosene, it's got a little of that old fashioned style, but with more action. The characters aren't particularly interesting or deep, but that's okay -- sometimes I'm just in the mood for a good yarn. Corey keeps the plot moving, which I like. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.

I picked up one of Peter Hamilton's, too, A Night Without Stars, Book #2 of the Commonwealth series (#1 wasn't available). I liked what I read -- seemed very imaginative -- but after about 30 pages, I decided I'd better put it away and try to find Book #1 instead, because I was missing too much of the backstory.

I think you'll really enjoy The Expanse series. I've read the first 4 books and the over all story is very good. The characters are kind of run of the mill but it's a solid read. I'm pretty sure James Cory is actually a pseudonym for two authors working together.

The Peter F Hamilton one is one of my favourites (the nights dawn trilogy) but god yes, do not start on the second one. You won't have a clue what is going on. It's one of the most detailed space operas I've ever read. It has hundreds of characters across loads of worlds, all with their own sub plots underlying the main story.
 
What I love about the Expanse is that space is a "character" in the show. It isn't just a given that humanity can travel and colonize. It is harder sci fi without getting too geeky. The later novels add some much needed depth to the characters. I'd read the books before getting into the TV show, because the show is jumping ahead a little bit (not directly but lots of hints).

I finished American Gods and am starting Dark Run (Keiko Series) by Mike Brooks. I've heard great things but starting a new series is like a blind date... you never know what you are going to be walking into.

I was a little let down by American Gods. Maybe just too much hype with the show coming out for me. I didn't dislike it though. Just... different.
 
I think you'll really enjoy The Expanse series. I've read the first 4 books and the over all story is very good. The characters are kind of run of the mill but it's a solid read. I'm pretty sure James Cory is actually a pseudonym for two authors working together.

Just finished the first one. I enjoyed it; it was a good, entertaining read. I like the way he kept things moving. It got pretty crazy near the end.

And yeah, Corey is two people. I think one handled the "Holden" sections, and the other handled the "Miller" sections of the book, or at least that was my sense of it, because the two sections seemed to have slightly different styles, and dividing up the work that way would make sense. I thought it worked well.

The Peter F Hamilton one is one of my favourites (the nights dawn trilogy) but god yes, do not start on the second one. You won't have a clue what is going on. It's one of the most detailed space operas I've ever read. It has hundreds of characters across loads of worlds, all with their own sub plots underlying the main story.

I've ordered the first book in that trilogy, Praxis. Start at the start.

I also ordered the first book in the Dread Empire's Fall series by Walter Jon Williams. I did that because Corey mentions it being a really good space opera, in the appendix to Leviathan Awakes.
What I love about the Expanse is that space is a "character" in the show. It isn't just a given that humanity can travel and colonize. It is harder sci fi without getting too geeky. The later novels add some much needed depth to the characters.

Yeah, Corey mentions in the appendix that there are a lot of SF books that take place when humanity has populated the galaxy and is mixing with other races, but very little at the early stages, when we're just exploring the solar system, still limited to that, and just starting to encounter alien life. I like that. I also like that it's not too "hard." Like in the appendix, he says it's not really hard SF, it's just stuff that seems cool to him and is plausible enough on the surface, but he isn't going to make sure everything is scientifically grounded, he's not going to weigh the book down with that sort of thing.

I ended up being really interested in the Miller character (the burned-out detective) by the end of the story. I found his story pretty intriguing. And there was a good contrast between him and Holden (the good/naïve guy).
 
John Dies at the End

by David Wong



This is a weird fun read and was also adapted as a movie by Don Coscarelli(Phantasm). It follows the lives of John Cheese and David Wong who gain psychic ability after exposure to a drug possibly from another dimension that is referred to as The Soy Sauce. They can see spiritual or demonic entities and wind up thwarting a monster from a parallel universe.

Quote below is just from the introduction:

Solving the following riddle will reveal the awful secret behind the universe,
assuming you do not go utterly mad in the attempt. If you already happen to know the awful secret behind the universe, feel free to skip ahead.


Let’s say you have an ax. Just a cheap one, from Home Depot. On one bitter winter day, you use said ax to behead a man. Don’t worry, the man was already dead. Or maybe you should worry, because you’re the one who shot him.

He had been a big, twitchy guy with veiny skin stretched over swollen biceps, a tattoo of a swastika on his tongue. Teeth filed into razor-sharp fangs, you know the type. And you’re chopping off his head because, even with eight bullet holes in him, you’re pretty sure he’s about to spring back to his feet and eat the look of terror right off your face. On the fol ow-through of the last swing, though, the handle of the ax snaps in a spray of splinters. You now have a broken ax. So, after a long night of looking for a place to dump the man and his head, you take a trip into town with your ax. You go to the hardware store, explaining away the dark reddish stains on the broken handle as barbecue sauce. You walk out with a brand new handle for your ax.

The repaired ax sits undisturbed in your garage until the next spring when, on one rainy morning, you find in your kitchen a creature that appears to be a foot-long slug with a bulging egg sac on its tail. Its jaws bite one of your forks in half with what seems like very little effort. You grab your trusty ax and chop the thing into several pieces. On the last blow, however, the ax strikes a metal leg of the overturned kitchen table and chips out a notch right in the middle of the blade.

Of course, a chipped head means yet another trip to the hardware store. They sell you a brand new head for your ax. As soon as you get home with your newly-headed ax, though, you meet the reanimated body of the guy you beheaded last year. He’s also got a new head, stitched on with what looks like plastic weed trimmer line, and it’s wearing that unique expression of “you’re the man who kil ed me last winter” resentment that one so rarely encounters in everyday life.

You brandish your ax. The guy takes a long look at the weapon with his squishy, rotting eyes and in a gargly voice he screams, “That’s the same ax that slayed me!”

Is he right?



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Halfway through The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. I really like it. He's a good storyteller, and it seems like fantasy in the old-fashioned vein.

It's 680 pages. I've also got Peter Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction on deck, which is 1100 pages, and Ken Folette's Fall of Giants, which is about 800 pages (and it's the first in a trilogy).

What is with authors these days? Does everyone have to write epic tomes? What happened to novels that are 250 pages?
 
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There are some books I'd like to read, mainly space/sci-fi stuff, but I'm really just lazy. Plus I'm much more of a visual person especially when it comes to this sort of thing. I'm sure The Expanse books are great but I want to see the action!
 
Halfway through The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. I really like it. He's a good storyteller, and it seems like fantasy in the old-fashioned vein.

It's 680 pages. I've also got Peter Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction on deck, which is 1100 pages, and Ken Folette's Fall of Giants, which is about 800 pages (and it's the first in a trilogy).

What is with authors these days? Does everyone have to write epic tomes? What happened to novels that are 250 pages?

I actually I have a tendency to go for authors will large volumes of work behind them. The more they have, the better. Hamiltion's series that comes after the one you are reading is 4 or 5 books and totals nearly 6000 pages!! I'm on the last one now :-)
 
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Pooped out 2/3 of the way through Name of the Wind, by Rothfuss. It was well-written, but the pace was too slow for me. I wanted it to move along. The character was telling his story in flashback (that's pretty much the whole book), and while the early part was interesting (tragedy and poverty), it spent an awful long time talking about his wizard school training years, all the relationships with his masters and the other students, which wasn't that interesting to me, and then of course he meets a girl he is infatuated with ... and I just lost interest. I knew this was only part one, and there was another 700 page tome waiting for me after this. Didn't feel like continuing with it.
 
The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel

Recommended for those who find stuff about the supernatural interesting. It's almost more like a collection of reports than a solid story just describing very strange occurrences in this town. This includes sightings of a winged creature with red eyes named Mothman by the locals, but also weird UFO type lights in the sky and visits from Men in Black.

Some locals are just randomly given predictions of disasters with massive casualties.

I think some of the material in this book was inspiration for the writers on The X-Files.

Also, there was a film adaption of this, but it was much different from the book.


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Anyone read Annihilation? Saw the teaser and it looks pretty good. I looked it up and I've seen that cover before but can't remember if someone had mentioned it or I just randomly came across it. I'm not much of a reader but like Shutter Island I have the urge to read it before the movie.
 
Ok I've got a chapter left in Annihilation and really like it. Actually has me interested in reading other books. There are two more in this series so I'll grab those. I want to read Andy Weir's new book Artemis as well but after that I'm not too sure.
 
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I don't yet but I'll probably look into it more. Most of the stuff on my read list right now is mystery/suspense so I'll need to mix it up a bit. When I created a GoodReads account via my Amazon account I noticed at some point I had purchased/received for free a book by Evan Currie called Into the Black, which is the first in a series of books. Otherwise as a huge fan of the Expanse show I may read those books as well. Have also thought about reading the Ender's Game stuff as well. Otherwise not really sure of newer books.

Anyways, definitely getting the bug to read more. Don't watch much TV/movies anymore so need something else to waste my time. After I'm done reading the Annihilation series I'd like to get into some Greg Iles stuff. He just finished up a series of books so that will be a lot of reading. Also want to check out Hyperion by Dan Simmons as well.
 
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Finished the second book of Annihilation. Getting really interesting now so interested to see how it will end. I will say I'm curious how the movie will go now. I just read that they have no plans for a sequel. While the first book didn't necessarily end on a cliffhanger, there is so much more to the story beyond the first book.
 
Finished the second book of Annihilation. Getting really interesting now so interested to see how it will end. I will say I'm curious how the movie will go now. I just read that they have no plans for a sequel. While the first book didn't necessarily end on a cliffhanger, there is so much more to the story beyond the first book.

I just finished reading Annihilation and I’m not sure what to make of it. I thought the comcept was good but I’m in two minds on if I liked it or night. I still haven’t decided if I’ll get the next book or not.
 
I just finished reading Annihilation and I’m not sure what to make of it. I thought the comcept was good but I’m in two minds on if I liked it or night. I still haven’t decided if I’ll get the next book or not.
Well I'm probably a terrible person to listen to for recommendations, either for books or movies, because it takes a lot for me to not like something. Book two, while not as suspenseful as the first, definitely started answering more questions, so I think all three are really needed to grasp what is happening. That is why I'm interested to see what they are doing with the movie if they don't plan on sequels.
 
Alright I've got enough books to last me a year. Last night local Books a Million had a sale so grabbed Artemis and In a Dark, Dark Wood. Wasn't really sure what the last one was but sounded cool and had a bunch of bs awards. On order from BAM online...

Fire and Fury
Hyperion and The Terror by Dan Simmons
The Three Body Problem, The Dark Forrest, and Death's End by Cixin Liu
The Quiet Game and Turning Angel by Greg Iles
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Stuff is coming from Alabama and they must have gotten a dusting of snow because UPS says shipping is delayed due to severe weather. Yea ok.
 
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Alright I've got enough books to last me a year. Last night local Books a Million had a sale so grabbed Artemis and In a Dark, Dark Wood. Wasn't really sure what the last one was but sounded cool and had a bunch of bs awards. On order from BAM online...

Fire and Fury
Hyperion and The Terror by Dan Simmons
The Three Body Problem, The Dark Forrest, and Death's End by Cixin Liu
The Quiet Game and Turning Angel by Greg Iles
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Stuff is coming from Alabama and they must have gotten a dusting of snow because UPS says shipping is delayed due to severe weather. Yea ok.

The Hyperion stuff is pretty good but it can be a struggle at times. Let me know if the Cixin Liu books are worth a read.
 
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Do you guys ever let books effect your mood once you put it down?

I'm rereading A Child called It, The Lost Boy, A man named Dave, and it's put me in a serious funk.

My partner always asks me why I keep reading depressing s*** when I end up randomly crying on the train or the middle of dinner, but I f***ing love it for some reason.

The first time I got hooked on being f***ed up by a book, I think I was about 11, and I was a pretty good reader, and asked my librarian for a more adult story.

She gave me one, and said "I wouldn't normally recommend this, but I think you'll be up for the challenge."

It was A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway, and I figured that an adult book would have bigger words and darker themes, but it seemed that she interpreted my request as "make it as dull as possible."

I figured a book about war would be exhillerating, but it was all strategy and prep for the battles, and then when he finally gets there, all he does is drive a fricken ambulance!

But I pressed on, mainly because an adult had challenged me to it...

And then the hospital scene happened. The implied sex. The firing squad.

"After I while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain."

I almost dropped the book when I finished on that. Wtf? Why would you end it there!?

I reread it immediately...

In the late summer of that year...
The baby died. Catherine died. And Frederic Henry always walks back to the hotel in the rain.

I'm pretty sure that was the first time I said "What the f***?!" In front of my mum too. Lol
 
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For some reason the ending of A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick gets to me(also adapted as a Richard Linklater film). It's a tragic and also surreal fate for the main character. He's not dead, but so brain damaged from the drug Substance D he doesn't even remember his name or most of his previous life. In fact even before this what he thought was his previous life with a family may have been a fantasy he came to think was real. He was also unaware he was allowed to wind up this way like a pawn being sacrificed and he never knew it.

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This is brought home even more in an epilogue dedication to the author's friends. Keeping in mind this was written in the 70s when people he knew could have still been naive about how bad things could get.

ascannerdarkly.jpg




This has been a story about people who were punished entirely too much for what they did. I loved them all. Here is a list, to whom I dedicate my love:

To Gaylene, deceased
To Ray, deceased
To Francy, permanent psychosis
To Kathy, permanent brain damage
To Jim, deceased
To Val, massive permanent brain damage
To Nancy, permanent psychosis
To Joanne, permanent brain damage
To Maren, deceased
To Nick, deceased
To Terry, deceased
To Dennis, deceased
To Phil, permanent pancreatic damage
To Sue, permanent vascular damage
To Jerri, permanent psychosis and vascular damage

...and so forth In memoriam. These were comrades whom I had; There are no better. They remain in my mind, and the enemy will never be forgiven. The "enemy" was their mistake in playing. Let them play again, in some other way, and let them be happy.

Philip K. Dick
 
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I saw this book promoted in a Maxim mag 15 years ago. And bought it. It was one of the first purchases I made on Amazon Canada.

4,000 days. Prison in Bangkok.

- Amazon USA has it for $12
- Only 200 or so pages
- Small book (dimensions), so you can blow through it in a night or two
- Very interesting book to read
- Make note if you are value conscious book buyer, $12 gets you a pretty small book

(Trying to paste the link and it won't work.... but find it on Amazon. Author is Warren fellows.)
 
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I saw this book promoted in a Maxim mag 15 years ago. And bought it. It was one of the first purchases I made on Amazon Canada.

4,000 days. Prison in Bangkok.

- Amazon USA has it for $12
- Only 200 or so pages
- Small book (dimensions), so you can blow through it in a night or two
- Very interesting book to read
- Make note if you are value conscious book buyer, $12 gets you a pretty small book

(Trying to paste the link and it won't work.... but find it on Amazon. Author is Warren fellows.)
It works. You have Adblock on.
 
Finished the three books for the Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation) and it was pretty good. I went back and watched the trailer (only had seen the initial teaser) and looks like the movie will be loosely tied but still kind of separate if that makes sense. I'm fine with that as well though having read the books. I've mentioned not liking the idea of a Kindle but honestly might grab one. Went through a bunch of random books I'd like to read and don't feel like needing all the storage space for them. I'd still grab certain books at the local store but for those random books I'd like to read I think digital might be better.

Edit: Oh yea started reading Fire and Fury. Only a couple chapters in but lol
 
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Finished the three books for the Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation) and it was pretty good. I went back and watched the trailer (only had seen the initial teaser) and looks like the movie will be loosely tied but still kind of separate if that makes sense. I'm fine with that as well though having read the books. I've mentioned not liking the idea of a Kindle but honestly might grab one. Went through a bunch of random books I'd like to read and don't feel like needing all the storage space for them. I'd still grab certain books at the local store but for those random books I'd like to read I think digital might be better.

Edit: Oh yea started reading Fire and Fury. Only a couple chapters in but lol

Still haven't started the second one of Southern Reach. Do you think its worth it as a trilogy?