What book did you just read and how was it?

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#1606238 8-Aug-2016 10:13

My wife read the new Harry Potter script the other day. She reckons the first half is below average, the second half is interesting. I'm going to read it one night this week, seems like it's only a 90 minute read.

JayADee

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#1606418 8-Aug-2016 16:18

Paul1977:

Just finished The Plague Dogs. Pretty heavy stuff, and don't know if I could called it an enjoyable read; but am having difficulty getting it out of my head.

SPOILER:

Somewhat let down by a Deus Ex Machina ending that the author was apparently pressured into adding (which also required adding an "out of left field" plot twist in the preceding chapter to set it up). It gave it a happier ending, but didn't fit with the tone of the rest of the book and also required a major antagonist to suddenly become a hero.

Ugh, you just reminded me of Dr. Rat -https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Rat-William-Kotzwinkle/dp/1497638348

Ugh because even though I read it a looooong time ago, I still find it disturbing!

MikeAqua

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#1606426 8-Aug-2016 16:29

Currently reading the Malazan Book of The Fallen trilogy by Steven Erikson.

Really high quality, detail rich fantasy series and different from the many formulaic trope laden fantasy novels.

It's takes patience to get into. He doesn't background anything. Like a Tarantino film you just have to keep up and it will all make sense in time. It takes half the first book for the setting to become familiar but once you get there it's fantastic.

Edit: Also A Crown For Cold Silver by Alex Marshall. Another original and trope free fantasy novel in unique and detail rich setting.

Mike

Paul1977

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#1606745 9-Aug-2016 09:44

My girlfriend has read some of the most recent Gabriel Allon series (but not the earlier ones) and has recommended them.

If I started reading the series from the beginning would I find the earlier entries to be dated?

freitasm

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#1606757 9-Aug-2016 10:09

Not at all. They add a lot to the story.

BurningBeard

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#1608575 10-Aug-2016 13:39

Finished the first two books in Patrick Rothfuss' "The Kingkiller Chronicles" series; The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's fear.

Soon to be made into a TV show and if they do it right, it's gonna be amazing.

Going to attempt Terry Pratchett's Discworld series from start to finish as I'd only ever sporadically read the occasional book.

Up to book four, "Mort" right now and it's a barrel of laughs.

My very metal Doctor Who theme

Paul1977

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#1631708 16-Sep-2016 12:38

I just finished Tigana.

I wanted to read a good stand alone fantasy (didn't want to start a whole series), and this was well reviewed and seemed to be on or near the top of many "Best standalone fantasy novel" lists.

What a long hard slog (or it seemed that way). Nearly 700 pages of pretty much nothing happening until the final chapter.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

jpoc

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#1631923 16-Sep-2016 19:50

I have just finished re-reading The Abyss Beyond Dreams by Peter Hamilton. I did that because "Night Without Stars", the second and concluding book in that set, will arrive on my Kindle app in just under two weeks time. It is not Hamilton's best work but I enjoyed it. Because it is set in the author's established commonwealth universe, it should only be read after the earlier books in that setting. The first book in that arc, Pandora's Star, is awesomely good and would be my pick as best SF Novel of the 21st century.

I have also just finished reading Andrew Robson's book on opening leads. That is an excellent book but only of interest to bridge players. Even if you are good enough to win a prize in most tournaments that you enter, the books in Robson's "Bridge Lessons" series are all worth at least two readings.

floydbloke

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#1645456 4-Oct-2016 20:54

Not long ago I read Chaos Monkeys by Antonio Garcia Martinez

An interesting insight into the world of venture capitalists, internet advertising and Facebook.

I found it a bit of a 'heavy read', he uses lots of uncommon, 'big' words that could have been substituted easily with their more common versions to make it more pleasant.

Little ol' NZ even gets a mention:

Chaos Monkeys: As a geographic tangent: New Zealand was commonly used as a test bed for new user-facing products. It was perfect due to its English-language usage, its relative isolation in terms of the social graph (i.e., most friend links were internal to the country), and, frankly, its lack of newsworthiness,...

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

Rikkitic

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#1664664 6-Nov-2016 20:03

Man was it hard to find this thread. I just read A Street Cat Named Bob and I quite enjoyed it. Not a great work of literature and obviously touched up by the professional co-writer, but still a genuine and moving story. Homeless ex-addict rescues a stray cat in London and gets rescued by the cat in turn. Bob is now an Internet star, a film has been made from the book and other spin-off books have been produced. The blatant attempts to milk every last dollar from the story are a little unfortunate, though I don't blame the guy at all for trying to get as much as he can from his opportunity considering what he has gone through. In any case, his account can only be described as heartwarming.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

DarthKermit

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#1670183 13-Nov-2016 17:54

I just finished 'A Street cat named Bob' by James Bowen.

It's an account of his life on the street and how he met Bob who helped to turn his life around. It's a nice, feel-good story.

sxz

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#1670692 14-Nov-2016 13:14

The Four Legendary Kingdoms by Matthew Reilly.

It's part of the Jack West Jr line of books. If you like Matthew Reilly books (guilty pleasure / trashy action), this was awesome. Much better than the last few books (great zoo of china / the tournament).

mdf

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#1670922 14-Nov-2016 19:10

Have spent most of my last ~60 hours of free time powering through Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy on audiobook, read by the excellent Tim Gerard Reynolds (an Irishman doing an Irish accent!? Sign me up!). Humanity has colonised the solar system, but with a rigid caste system. A red (the lowest caste) wages war to free his people. Quite Hunger Games-esque for several reasons, though with a much harder sci-fi edge. Also some Game of Thrones political intrigue thrown in for good measure.

Before that Marcus Sakey's Brilliance trilogy got it's hooks into me in a big way. This is set present day but some people have developed extraordinary mental powers (the brilliants). Tensions between brilliants and normals grow.

Both have been optioned for movies if that lights your fire. Red Rising would be better as a longer format TV series though.

lokhor

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#1670953 14-Nov-2016 19:24

jpoc:

I have just finished re-reading The Abyss Beyond Dreams by Peter Hamilton. I did that because "Night Without Stars", the second and concluding book in that set, will arrive on my Kindle app in just under two weeks time. It is not Hamilton's best work but I enjoyed it. Because it is set in the author's established commonwealth universe, it should only be read after the earlier books in that setting. The first book in that arc, Pandora's Star, is awesomely good and would be my pick as best SF Novel of the 21st century.

I have also just finished reading Andrew Robson's book on opening leads. That is an excellent book but only of interest to bridge players. Even if you are good enough to win a prize in most tournaments that you enter, the books in Robson's "Bridge Lessons" series are all worth at least two readings.

I just finished Night Without Stars - its definitely not as good as some of his earlier works but still worth the read.

Currently reading The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks, which is the 4th in a pretty great fantasy series, that I would say rivals Brandon Sanderson in world building and writing style.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

mdf

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#1670958 14-Nov-2016 19:33

lokhor: <snip> Currently reading The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks, which is the 4th in a pretty great fantasy series, that I would say rivals Brandon Sanderson in world building and writing style.

That's quite the endorsement. Will add it to my to read list!

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