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On April 30 2014 01:03 bookwyrm wrote:
I think the powerful pretty much just lead tabloid lives
To some extent probably, but tabloid is also a question of form and focus  Anyway having read Caesar's life, it was pretty fun, now reading Plutarch's Alexander/Caesar to compare.
On May 01 2014 04:41 Pursuit_ wrote:I've been wanting to try out some Sci-Fi novels lately, the only ones I've read are Enders Game and Dune, both of which I really enjoyed  I'm having a hard time finding any that look interesting in local bookstores though, so what would be some other reccommendations?
Foundation/Robot cycles are pretty cool and gets lots of love, with good reasons. PKD is awesome, I love Ubik, Solar lottery, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (which gave the great Blade Runner), A Scanner Darkly. Stanislas Lem's Solaris and The Cyberiad are great books. I remember liking Van Vogt's The World of Null-A, Simak's Idiot Crusade. You also might want to check Bradbury, Kim Stanley Robinson (RIP sam!zsdat, who could have gave you pages more of recommandation).
Edit : forgot the Stugatskis' Stalker, even though I think it's disappointing compared to the movie.
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On May 01 2014 04:57 corumjhaelen wrote:Show nested quote +On April 30 2014 01:03 bookwyrm wrote:
I think the powerful pretty much just lead tabloid lives
To some extent probably, but tabloid is also a question of form and focus Anyway having read Caesar's life, it was pretty fun, now reading Plutarch's Alexander/Caesar to compare. Show nested quote +On May 01 2014 04:41 Pursuit_ wrote:I've been wanting to try out some Sci-Fi novels lately, the only ones I've read are Enders Game and Dune, both of which I really enjoyed I'm having a hard time finding any that look interesting in local bookstores though, so what would be some other reccommendations? Foundation/Robot cycles are pretty cool and gets lots of love, with good reasons. PKD is awesome, I love Ubik, Solar lottery, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (which gave the great Blade Runner), A Scanner Darkly. Stanislas Lem's Solaris and The Cyberiad are great books. I remember liking Van Vogt's The World of Null-A, Simak's Idiot Crusade. You also might want to check Bradbury, Kim Stanley Robinson (RIP sam!zsdat, who could have gave you pages more of recommandation). Edit : forgot the Stugatskis' Stalker, even though I think it's disappointing compared to the movie.
While we are at scifi suggestions is there any epic sci fi series with a massive war? I think something like the anime legend of galactic heroes .
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"My Education" by Susan Choi is a great read. The premise is cliched, the prose can be suffocating and dense, but the story is genuinely moving. Highly recommended.
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i'd like to request recommendations for some epic sci fi too. i read Hyperion and Into the black: Oddessy but i didnt enjoy them very much. i guess i'm a sucker for hero stories.
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Parents are here on a visit, so I'll try to be brief.
In no particular order, but can be of interest, not everything is excellent*, and it might not suit your taste. (I.e. don't judge me).
Military / Hero / Space:
Reality Dysfunction - Peter F Hamilton
Revelation Space - Alaistar Reynolds.
Neah Asher - Gridlinked ( hardboiled )
Paul McAuley - (Only read Eternal Light, but starts with 400 billion stars)
Elisabeth Moon - (misc)
Space / Easy read / "Happy go lucky"
A talent for war and onward. - Jack McDevitt
Classics / Space / Adventure
Ring World
Starship troopers / The moon is a harsh mistress
Tau Zero
Futuristics / Cyberpunk
Anything by by Neal Stephenson (Except for the Baroque Cycle).
Anything by Ian McDonald
Anything by William Gibson
The Wind up Girl
Edit:
* good => excellent
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you might check out Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41S5Q3AE70L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fF8Hw6HeIHQ/ULlu9UiV5HI/AAAAAAAAGUc/JLsWcM2uqJk/s1600/Under_the_Banner_of_Heaven.jpg)
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On May 03 2014 04:49 bookwyrm wrote:you might check out Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep
Banner of Heaven thing seems interresting, read it yet, or upcoming?
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I just started it, I'll let you know how it is
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Tell us what you think of Deleuze/Guattari too !
Finished :
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XPXZSXE9L.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327910301l/17716.jpg)
Molloy and Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett). Didn't think much of the play. First half of Molloy didn't tick me too much, but the second one and all the connections it had with the first really made me shiver. I don't think it's really funny, but some people seem to think so :/
And Aragon's Aurélien, which I started quite a long time ago. Way too long, and it managed to irk me to no end. Aragon has talent, he's no Ayn Rand, but his moralization about politics was really dumb, especially from someone in the PCF. It's a sort of average update of Sentimental Education I guess.
Edit : Now I'm "only" left with Phenomenology of spirit, in which I'm going slowly but surely. Not sure what else I'll pick up.
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Mille Plateaux is pretty readable compared to Anti-Oedipus. I'm about 80 pages in. It's beautiful, even though insane and often completely nonsensical.
The book about Mormons is pretty interesting, Joseph Smith is a fascinating insane person, up there with L. Ron Hubbard for great American "prophets" :D. Maybe one of these days I'll read the Book of Mormon, I bet it's pretty hilarious. I wonder though, these Fundamentalist Mormons, they all have like 5-10 wives, what do they do with the extra males? Sacrifice them to Ba'al?? Leave them in the woods for the White Walkers??
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Ahah, well, let's not ask Boko Haram I guess :/
Also finished Suetonius btw, it's pretty good, but he does suffer from the comparison with Tacitus. He's lucky we lost so much of the Histories...
Oh, and about big war SF, I was thinking of some SW universe book, lots of them. I've never been enough into them, but I guess The Thrawn trilogy might please you guys.
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Started rereading Anna Karenina, something I've wanted t do for avery long time. This novel is fucking incredible.
Reading a bit of Benjamin on the side
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@corumjhaelen:
If you like Anna Karenina, I do, but the last time I read it, it was a little bit tedious, try Theodor Fontanes Delusions, Confusions and right after it Effie Briest. They are unbelievable good and at least the last one flys right in Kareninas alley.
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![[image loading]](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcShhkcuzAyGbQ4j7JuP8bo9qYZBK2-brxgHYP3KGP9WU5aa2nz1Bs08lIu8)
So, so good. Can't wait for more. Sanderson is quickly becoming one of my favorites.
And of course,
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/eb/Cold_Days_Hardcover.jpg/200px-Cold_Days_Hardcover.jpg)
In preparation for the upcoming Skin Games. Gonna be sick.
Have to read this one for my Vertebrate Biology class. Should be good. Professor described it as "very readable" but she's a Physiologist, so who knows.
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I've finished reading Ender's Game.
That book was kind of stupid.
Back to Blue Mars.
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It is one of the less tactful young adult Sci fi novels
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On May 09 2014 17:43 rezoacken wrote:
I've finished reading Ender's Game.
That book was kind of stupid.
Back to Blue Mars.
This is a beautiful post
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Just finished The Cuckoos Egg by Cliff Stoll.Actually I think I saw someone mention this in "this thread" a few years back.
It's a book about computer security in the early VMS/Unix times, written in a detective story kind of way. It's a really good account that does not require any skills in computing whatsoever to appreciate, but I must admin that I had a few nostalgic moments.
![[image loading]](https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399480676l/18154.jpg)
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On May 08 2014 13:42 Schmobutzen wrote:
@corumjhaelen:
If you like Anna Karenina, I do, but the last time I read it, it was a little bit tedious, try Theodor Fontanes Delusions, Confusions and right after it Effie Briest. They are unbelievable good and at least the last one flys right in Kareninas alley.
Thanks for the advice, Fontanes sounds like someone I could enjoy
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Guy Gavriel Kay is a really, really, really good writer. I read Tigana awhile ago, and now I'm about halfway through Under Heaven. His prose is incredible (though sometimes he flaunts that a bit), his characters are crisp and distinct, and his plots are complex but not contrived.
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EPT
