What are you reading Thread

I'm sure I'm blind and this will be joining my many previous attempts at this sort of thing in the locked pile, but crtl+f found nothing for book or read on the two pages, so...

Anyway, I'll get this short lived party started by saying the thing that made me look for such a thread and announce I read the first chapter of that Psyren volume I picked up a few weeks back.  Twas a pretty fun read, typical lead that likes a bit of a scuffle ends up transported to some strange land by a card he got.  Some guys tried to steal it from him but it activated before they could and he ends up in the place, cue chapter end (such a tease end).  Anyhow, twas a fun blast.  

So, anyone else care to either point me in the right direction or contribute?

No, I think I'll give you this one! Says a lot, doesn't it, especially given the length of the TV thread.

I'm a fair way into Dune, the world's best-selling science fiction novel. It's in a massive hardback volume with the next two books in the saga, which makes it a pain to lug around. Anyway, it's all very deserty and atmospheric, and I'm enjoying it.

This thread.

I'm reading Transformers Exodus. Its not very good. But its only short so I'll finish it off.

Balladeer wrote:

I'm a fair way into Dune, the world's best-selling science fiction novel.  It's in a massive hardback volume with the next two books in the saga, which makes it a pain to lug around.  Anyway, it's all very deserty and atmospheric, and I'm enjoying it.

Yay! Dune! I read that back in year five and was so hooked I would sit in the corner of the playground and read it all through lunch like a right nerd. Never got into the sequels, but I might go back to it one day.

One Piece and Dragonball

I just finished reading Reliquary, the sequel to the book Relic, written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It was kinda disappointing, though. One of the reviews quoted on the original book, Relic, said it was "far above Crichton's Jurassic Park" and I cannot agree with that. They have twists towards the end that feel cheap, and plot points that are pretty much impossible. Both books are involving, but I do not feel that they are worth reading.

Charlie Brooker's I Can Make You Hate, which is funny in that cleverly constructed bile way that he has.

I've been thinking about getting back into reading quite a lot recently. I used to read all the time but for some reason I appeared to just stop after Harry Potter 7  The biggest problem for me is the act of finding the library and signing up on top of picking a book to read. I might look into it when I'm back up north.

Just finished reading The Sleep Room by FR Tallis. A lady at work leant it to me. I don't read a lot of horror but I really enjoyed it. It wasn't really scary but it was all about weird, creepy 1950s psychotherapy techniques so it was right up my street.



Here's what I've got coming up. I'm forcing myself to work through all this that's been sat on my bedside cabinet for years before I read A Dance With Dragons 2. That's ignoring everything in my loft and on my Kindle. Then I've got to track down a copy of Dune thanks to Balla. I'll try and read the sequels this time as well.

Oh yes, I finished Dune and its sequel a while back.  Got bored of the style and didn't read the third book in the trilogy.  It's somehow too... detached for me to feel for any of the characters, apart from at the start of the first book to an extent.

That's how I felt way back when.. Loved the first book all the way through, then felt absolutely nothing for the second one.

For me, the big problem with the original Dune was that...

Spoiler:

And then, yes, the second one was disappointing in comparison.

Hmm, I don't remember it being too bad but I think I was 10 years old. I'll get back to you when I've read as an adult.

Now my copy of The Hobbit has been located, I'm reading that!

I just finished reading When The Tripods Came by John Christopher. It's a prequel to the Tripods trilogy, three of my favourite books. I didn't dislike it, and I liked the story it told and the characters it featured. On the whole though it felt like a rushed first draft of a much better book. Part of that at least might have been the brevity. I read the whole thing in about two hours.

The whole thing is also very blatantly reactionary. My copy starts with a little piece by Christopher where he recounts the criticisms that lead to him writing it. The author who was complaining said that it was nonsense that tripods beat mankind with such limited technology- they used searchlights, for crying out loud!

Then in chapter two, the teacher who was obviously written to be played by Peter Cushing says "oh, these tripods are a bit silly, aren't they? They used primitive searchlights wink wink nudge nudge." 

There's also a bit of a feeling that Christopher isn't quite in touch with the kids. It was fine in the trilogy, where they were living in a very removed fantasy world, but here they talked about "playing a dragon game on the computer" and they watched a tv show with the ridiculous name the trippy show.

Though that did lead to ask the hilarious talk of 'tripping'. Which leads me on to my other big criticism- the complete and total lack of subtlety. 

The Tripods attack on the second or third page, the fact that people are being hypnotized is spelled out to us by an exposition-bot on about page twenty and he then immediately goes on to say "maybe it's coming from space". 

Then there's a great parallel between the forced xenophobia from the Tripods and the naturally occurring variety among the free people. But instead of letting us make the connection, characters all talk about it. And instead of letting us make the leap that this is the Tripods breaking humanity down to village life, people openly discuss that as well.

On the whole, the imagery and the story worked great. I thought the whole "hypnosis through television" plot would play out really silly but it actually managed to remain kind of creepy throughout. Given a little more room to breathe, it could have been another great. 

On the whole, it's not apatch on the original trilogy but if you read and enjoy those it's worth a read. At the very least, if a film trilogy does get made (and is successful) this could make a great follow up film. And, unlike with the main trilogy, I would actively encourage a bit of meddling with the flow and the pacing. Hell, they could even do the Hobbit thing of stretching this book into a second trilogy quite well.


In other news, I did find a copy of Dune and I've put it at the end of my "to read" shelf. I also rebought the Dune PS1 game because I'll probably feel like playing that after I read the book. Next up though: Transformers Exiles. Yay.

A lot of "tell don't show", by the sounds of things. Always a mistake.

Let me know how you get on with Dune this time around.

Balladeer wrote:

A lot of "tell don't show", by the sounds of things.

Yeah, definitely. The other books had a bit of that but not as bad. In fact, I'd highly recommend them.

I'll let you know about Dune!

I've started on the first of three Mass Effect books.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (no, not the comedian.)

An interesting book that features six nested stories over different time periods. Each story is written in a completely different style and is interrupted mid-way by the next one, and the characters in the next story somehow end up commenting on the previous one.

I watched the movie and found it intriguing but very confusing, so I'm reading the book now, which I'm finding far easier to follow as it doesn't skip through the multiple storylines so frequently.

A Man of Property, book one of the Forsyte Saga. Character piece about the upper-middle class at the turn of the century. So many first-world problems. I can never tell whether it's going for hilarity or is unintentionally funny.

Sabriel First book in the Old Kingdom trilogy, pretty good from what I've read so far.

NintenDUCK wrote:

Sabriel First book in the Old Kingdom trilogy, pretty good from what I've read so far.

I read this years and years ago, but I remember enjoying it.

Currently reading Trainspotting - darkly funny and depressing at the same time.

'The Gaudi Key' by Esteban Martin & Andreu Carranza.

Another in a long, long line of historical, esoteric secrets that will change the world..... pulp fiction books that i love so much!

I'm currently reading a very dry, boring star trek the next gen novel. It's very, very season one. -_-
Next up I've got the last book of A Song of Ice and Fire, so I'm pretty pumped for that.

So that I don't spoil Cappa's thread any more, this can go in here.

THERE'S A NEW DISCWORLD COMING OUT. Haven't asked for it for Christmas though, so will probably get it in paperback in the New Year.