Has anyone read "The Dark Forest" by Cixin Liu? I'm 200 pages into the book and so far I find it quite underwhelming, both in terms of the ideas and in terms of the execution. I'm considering putting it back on the shelf and I was wondering whether it gets better at a later point.

MajuGarzett

Canada614 Posts

July 02 2019 18:58 GMT

#83

I liked all three books but I would say they stay pretty similar the whole way through.

Acrofales

Spain14587 Posts

July 02 2019 19:20 GMT

#84

On July 03 2019 03:58 MajuGarzett wrote:
I liked all three books but I would say they stay pretty similar the whole way through.

I agree with this, although I found the second book slightly disappointing, except for the conclusion.

In general, it is pretty bleak, but I found the style hard to get into but satisfying once I got used to it.

maybenexttime

Poland4095 Posts

July 02 2019 19:21 GMT

#85

On July 03 2019 03:58 MajuGarzett wrote:
I liked all three books but I would say they stay pretty similar the whole way through.

I'd say that the first two are quite different. "The Dark Forest" feels more like a dispassionate chronicle. Character development is even worse than in "The Three-Body Problem", and many characters seem to speak in the same manner. But what's bothering me the most is how explicitly everything is laid out, and the book is supposed to be about human deception. T___T

My favorite parts in the first book were actually the historical retrospection passages.

The books were really hyped up but so far I am not really impressed. I find the writing in "The Expanse" much more satisfying.

Eversince

Philippines1915 Posts

July 11 2019 09:13 GMT

#86

Has anyone read Fools & Mortals by Bernard Cornwell?
I've made it 7 chapters in so far and I just can't get into. I usually like his work though!! Does it pick up later?

I'm put it on hold and restart the Mercy Thompson novels by Patricia Briggs until I can decide on what I want to start on..

{CC}StealthBlue

United States34593 Posts

July 15 2019 19:04 GMT

#87

maybenexttime

Poland4095 Posts

July 21 2019 13:30 GMT

#88

Has anyone read "Metro 2033"? I want to practice my Russian. The cheapest option is to buy the books directly from Russia as Amazon prices are ridiculously high. The best option would be to buy all three (it's a trilogy, I believe) because if I were to buy one, the cost of shipping would be half the price.

Silvanel

Poland3565 Posts

July 21 2019 14:35 GMT

#89

I read it in Polish (only first book) it was decent, but i heard bad things about second one so i skipped it. I also read the Petersburg books from the metro universe (which were ok) and the one in Rome (got it as a gift) i never finished that one.

Starlightsun

658 Posts

August 08 2019 18:59 GMT

#90

People of the Dark (Stories of Robert E Howard) - Love the raw intensity of his writing.

Africa in History (Basil Davidson) - Got this at used bookstore. Trying to read more history and hadn't read anything focused on the African continent yet. It kind of breezes over things so I'm afraid that I'm not getting as much out of this as more in depth books.

Principles of Economics (Gregory Mankiw) - I got this because the last history book I read talked a lot about things like tarrifs, interest and inflation and I find myself lost trying to understand all that. I expected this to be dry but it's surprisingly light with lots of real life case studies and news articles to break up the theory. It's amusing how economists have broken down so much human behavior into neat little mathematical models.

Teaching of the Buddha (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai) - This is the book you find in hotel drawers alongside Bibles. I like the short, concise sections in it and the plainspoken English. Years ago I was real into the early Indian Buddhism found in the Pali cannon, but those are written in a difficult style. This book is easy to dip in to and it references those early texts a lot and tells the same stories, parables and teachings.

Korean-MILF

Norway59 Posts

September 03 2019 23:50 GMT

#91

Havent posted here since last years thread, so just gonna summarize this year for me!

Finished:
The red queens war (Prince of fools/The liars key/The wheel of Osheim) Mark Lawrence
The band (Kings of the wyld\Bloody Rose) Nicholas Eames
The faithful and the fallen (Malice/Valor/Ruin/Wrath) John Gwynne

Red queens war was good, the band was as close to epic as a series can be, and the 3rd book cant get released fast enough! Faithful and fallen was also an impressive surprise for me, for sure gonna revisit the new books when i have read some amazing books coming up soon!

Currently reading Circe by Madeline Miller. Was told is an amazing book, but something about the way its written doesnt sink in with me. Thinking about laying it away and take a break until "A little hatred" by Joe Abercrombie is released. That book is gonna be epic from start to finish

{CC}StealthBlue

United States34593 Posts

September 11 2019 11:37 GMT

#92

+ Show Spoiler +

Silvanel

Poland3565 Posts

September 11 2019 12:06 GMT

#93

Recently finished:
[image loading]

and

Which were both very good but also very specific books and not for everyone. Not an easy reading by any means.

Currently reading:
[image loading]

I dont like it so far.

Jockmcplop

United Kingdom6589 Posts

September 11 2019 12:45 GMT

#94

I just ordered the Dune series and I'm super excited.
I have no idea how I've got to 34 years old and not read them yet. Seems like the kind of thing that's right up my street. Political/philosophical sci fi <3

goody153

9675 Posts

September 12 2019 11:30 GMT

#95

Recently Finished:

[image loading]

and

Both are really surprisingly fantastic novels(which i didn't expect for red sister as i was not that impressed with his other book prince of thorns ). And both have one common element other than being great which is the really catchy first paragraph of the book below.

+ Show Spoiler [Red Sister Introduction] +

IT IS IMPORTANT, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men.

Ninja Nuns.

Also the best almost all girls novel i have read(which is surprising as the author isn't a girl and he wrote them as if they are girls as opposed to uhm other works that i have read from male authors). This is a weird thing too as i have read more better male protagonist with female authors than male authors themselves.

+ Show Spoiler [Murderbot Introduction] +

I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don't know, a little under 35,00 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.

Murderbot is seriously my spirit animal in my early 20's and late teens. Also it never felt boring reading that stuff at all. Good scifi adventure style without the sense of doom for the universe.

I am considering buying the sequels for both but i still have waay too many brought books to finish. I couldn't binge read like before anymore with so many things in life(like job eating up all my time ugh)

Next Up:

American Gods and Lightbringer (already reading both but focusing more on lightbringer.

Yurie

2748 Posts

September 15 2019 20:35 GMT

#96

Just finished reading The Dispossessed.
[image loading]

Read a few (a lot) of her other books before but never got around to the rest of the Hainish Cycle for some reason. This book holds up well still. Can tell it is around 50 years old by now in the views and science used. Though the core of the Sci Fi and ways of viewing society holds up very well. Depending on where you live, where you grew up and which phase of life you are in you are likely to find things resonating strongly. Examining things is good for you regardless of positive or negative opinions.

These old school feminist works feels like they are written about a normal current society when you live in a Scandinavian country. Then you think back to why it was radical at its time and can only be glad for how much better it has gotten, even if we still have a ways to go. The contrasts in this book highlights it pretty well, shows how Le Guin considered her contemporary time and thus gives me food for thought.

Apart from that I follow way too many online novels, translated or original. Probably started ~80 of them this year apart from the normal books I've finished. I really like the unique ideas they portray, even if the writing isn't always the best. Good writing there is so much of, new and interesting ideas is what keeps me around. (Then the writing makes me drop it after the idea isn't fresh any more.) That has cut my reading this year down to 45 "novels" though I've probably read thrice the amount of pages.

Highlights for me this year has been a bit of a mixed take.
The Dispossessed (Hainish Cycle)
Street Cultivation (It isn't a good book, I liked it anyhow)
Towers of Heaven: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 1)
The Alloy of Law: A Mistborn Novel
Foundation's Edge (Foundation Novels)
Foundation
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?: The inspiration for the films Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049

A bit interesting to me that I have read 9 books from Tao Wong and 0 made it to the top list of the year. They resonate with me while reading and are page-turners, yet don't really leave an impression I guess.

Also interesting goody153 mentioned Sanderson and Murder bots. Got around to books 4-6 in Mistborn just a few months ago as audio books on the way to and from work. I also have Murder bots in my ever expanding to be read list. Though it has made it to my pocketbook, so chances of me reading it is way up from the paper books laying about.

Silvanel

Poland3565 Posts

September 16 2019 12:07 GMT

#97

On July 03 2019 03:45 maybenexttime wrote:
Has anyone read "The Dark Forest" by Cixin Liu? I'm 200 pages into the book and so far I find it quite underwhelming, both in terms of the ideas and in terms of the execution. I'm considering putting it back on the shelf and I was wondering whether it gets better at a later point.

I had the same feeling, i put it on shelf about 6 months ago and havent touched since. I am thinking about finishing it though.

goody153

9675 Posts

October 02 2019 11:24 GMT

#98

So i ended reading just a couple of chapters on both Lightbringer and American Gods (Lightbringer was surprisingly not as well-paced as i thought which lost my interest and well i brought a Peter Watts book so i kinda lost interest with American Gods) but no matter i'll just go back to it in a later date when i am much more interested in both books(i really do this). On the other hand from the books i finished in the meantime.

Recently Read:

[image loading]

5/5

Now this is a surprise(as i read the another work of Mark Lawrence which was Prince of Thorns and i did not like it but not because of the atrocities but rather it was kinda not good tbh). The 2nd book is actually better than Red Sister which says alot considering as Red Sister was fantastic(as if it wasn't written by the same author of Prince of Thorns)

I'll be honest if the 3rd book keeps up the quality or do even better it might dethrone my favorite trilogy of all time for sure.

[image loading]

I would say outside the heavy deconstructions, unique themes used and overall humor. It actually mediocre in other sense not that it was bad but it wasn't great either.

Just ok and i still did have fun reading a Dark Lord as a protagonist.and alot of hypocrisy with the characters.

3/5

[image loading]

4/5

Do not let others set your limit. You are your own limit.

Not an actual quote from the novel(just madeup) but it sums up what the novel is all about.

And this is Will Wight's magnus opus where he went from promising the fans a sequel series to Travelers Gate to completely forgetting about Travelers Gate franchise and kept releasing like book after book of Cradle until now we still don't have a Travelers Gate sequel news whatsoever in favor of Cradle's 7th book(and 8th book already under way) lol

I can see why this is actually popular(and why the author himself abandoned it). It is impressive in a really unique way (i heard it is a deconstruction of a genre of a chinese novel but i haven't read a chinese novel ever so i don't know but it was still pretty good for me without it). Really great progressional fantasy

Both Red Sister franchise and Cradle franchise makes me look forward for its sequels.

Next Up

I am halfway on both Rifters by Peter Watts and Semiosis by Sue Burke. I read too many fantasy novels lately time to catch up with the scifi backlog i have. (i will try as i ended up reading different books all the time)

Uldridge

Belgium1845 Posts

October 03 2019 10:39 GMT

#99

Finished Dune; loved it, although my main criticism is that + Show Spoiler +

I didnt like how the protagonist couldn't do anything wrong. I like innate talent and abilities, but how perfect and awe inspiring everything he did was just a tad too much for me. Also, the writing style sometimes felt a little too superlative. Other than that; epic story; great depth in the universe he's shapen and with just enough left out of it that it becomes very intriguing.