What books are you reading now?
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Ancient History
- Serious Badass
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- Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:57 pm
Leviathan and Behemoth by Scott Westerfield. They are very cool, especially the artwork of the fabricated warbeasts and the walkers.
DSMatticus wrote:It's not just that everything you say is stupid, but that they are Gordian knots of stupid that leave me completely bewildered as to where to even begin. After hearing you speak Alexander the Great would stab you and triumphantly declare the puzzle solved.
Finished Children of Dune, The Pastel City and The Storm of Wings. M. John Harrison wrote the latter two and his writing is seriously surreal but also some of the most intelligent Lovecraftian writing.
Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.
Finished Ghost Story (Dresden Files, Jim Butcher), No Great Magic (Fritz Leiber).
A little bit ago read Dracula (Bram Stoker) and was surprised at the epistolary format (it's entirely diary entries and the like). Renfield was probably my 2nd biggest surprise since he did not turn out at all as I expected thanks to a semi-recent reading of another book where "Renfield" is used as a generic moniker for irredeemably maddened berserkers/servitors in service to a vampire.
A little bit ago read Dracula (Bram Stoker) and was surprised at the epistolary format (it's entirely diary entries and the like). Renfield was probably my 2nd biggest surprise since he did not turn out at all as I expected thanks to a semi-recent reading of another book where "Renfield" is used as a generic moniker for irredeemably maddened berserkers/servitors in service to a vampire.
I just read the excellent work Radioactive - Marie & Pierre Curie - A tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss that talks about radiation and nuclear science and mixes it with stories about Marie & Pierre's lives and romances and the crazy amazing advancements these two and their subsequent kids and grandkids made in the field of chemistry and physics and biology and other etc-ologies. It also includes small stories and interviews with people affected by radiation or involved with the Manhattan project or the underground Nevada tests. Many of the pages are beautifully and somewhat abstractly illustrated. It's the size of a coffee table book and probably one of the few books I will buy new and at full cost.
Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.
So, finished the Levithan series.
Basic conceit: Darwin was a total badass and invented genetic engineering. Britain, France, and Russia adopted it heavily, with stuff like genetically engineered hydrogen-lift whale airships. Austro-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Germany rejected it but used lessons learned from the bioengineering to create walkers. The book opens in 1913 when some aristocrat is assassinated.
There's a number of major changes in how the war goes, due to things like Britain having submarine beasts the size of a dreadnought and thus getting to tell the shore batteries near Istanbul to go fuck themselves.
The main characters are Deryn Sharp, who disguises herself as a boy to join the air service and convinces everyone that she's pretty much the manliest person in it, and Aleksander, the alternate-history son of Archduke Ferdinand (The real one had three children) who is actually not his heir due to the nature of his father's marriage agreement.
Basic conceit: Darwin was a total badass and invented genetic engineering. Britain, France, and Russia adopted it heavily, with stuff like genetically engineered hydrogen-lift whale airships. Austro-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Germany rejected it but used lessons learned from the bioengineering to create walkers. The book opens in 1913 when some aristocrat is assassinated.
There's a number of major changes in how the war goes, due to things like Britain having submarine beasts the size of a dreadnought and thus getting to tell the shore batteries near Istanbul to go fuck themselves.
The main characters are Deryn Sharp, who disguises herself as a boy to join the air service and convinces everyone that she's pretty much the manliest person in it, and Aleksander, the alternate-history son of Archduke Ferdinand (The real one had three children) who is actually not his heir due to the nature of his father's marriage agreement.
DSMatticus wrote:It's not just that everything you say is stupid, but that they are Gordian knots of stupid that leave me completely bewildered as to where to even begin. After hearing you speak Alexander the Great would stab you and triumphantly declare the puzzle solved.
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Ancient History
- Serious Badass
- Posts: 12708
- Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:57 pm
Fun game: after reading Stranger, guess how conservative Heinlein is.
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Read the first three Dresden Files, plus Butcher's Furies series. So far, I like Dresden's character arc much better. Not sure if it's writer or character though. I'm a bit confused about why people think the mysogeny thing though; it shows up much stronger in the series where the main character says "people say I'm a sexist pig," and basically not at all in the other series.
Also read "On Stranger Tides". Pretty good, but you should pretend that it is completely unrelated to the latest Pirates of the Carribean.
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Read the first three Dresden Files, plus Butcher's Furies series. So far, I like Dresden's character arc much better. Not sure if it's writer or character though. I'm a bit confused about why people think the mysogeny thing though; it shows up much stronger in the series where the main character says "people say I'm a sexist pig," and basically not at all in the other series.
Also read "On Stranger Tides". Pretty good, but you should pretend that it is completely unrelated to the latest Pirates of the Carribean.
Vebyast wrote:Here's a fun target for Major Creation: hydrazine. One casting every six seconds at CL9 gives you a bit more than 40 liters per second, which is comparable to the flow rates of some small, but serious, rocket engines. Six items running at full blast through a well-engineered engine will put you, and something like 50 tons of cargo, into space. Alternatively, if you thrust sideways, you will briefly be a fireball screaming across the sky at mach 14 before you melt from atmospheric friction.
Well, he's more about privacy and freedom than JP Barlow, more about personal rights and responsibility than Rush Limbaugh (and more impressively, more than Rush claims to be), and swingier than basically anyone you will ever meet.
Basically, it's a trick question and any answer is wrong.
Basically, it's a trick question and any answer is wrong.
Vebyast wrote:Here's a fun target for Major Creation: hydrazine. One casting every six seconds at CL9 gives you a bit more than 40 liters per second, which is comparable to the flow rates of some small, but serious, rocket engines. Six items running at full blast through a well-engineered engine will put you, and something like 50 tons of cargo, into space. Alternatively, if you thrust sideways, you will briefly be a fireball screaming across the sky at mach 14 before you melt from atmospheric friction.
Well, early on, it isn't exactly mysogeny. But all the women Dresden meet are sexy. Later on, it tones down and most of the gratuitous sexy comes from White Court vampires and what-have-you.fectin wrote:
Read the first three Dresden Files, plus Butcher's Furies series. So far, I like Dresden's character arc much better. Not sure if it's writer or character though. I'm a bit confused about why people think the mysogeny thing though; it shows up much stronger in the series where the main character says "people say I'm a sexist pig," and basically not at all in the other series.
Later on, he just mainly plays up that he likes to do the old-world system of manners--open door, draw out chairs for women, little things like that. And that women and children being harmed by the supernatural turns on his inner caveman.
As for quality...wait until you hit Book 5 of the Dresden Files. It has the other two Knights of the Sword in it, along with Michael. And some of the best bad guys in the series. And if you want to see character arc...well, hell. Just keep reading.
Last edited by Maxus on Tue May 22, 2012 2:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
Snuff, by Terry Pratchett.
I think at this stage I'm reading out of duty. I've enjoyed a lot of the discworld series, but I'm finding the last couple neither funny or easy reading.
I've slogged my way through half, but don't know if I can push myself through to the last hurrah.
I think at this stage I'm reading out of duty. I've enjoyed a lot of the discworld series, but I'm finding the last couple neither funny or easy reading.
I've slogged my way through half, but don't know if I can push myself through to the last hurrah.
King Francis I's Mother said wrote:The love between the kings was not just of the beard, but of the heart
Yeah, the Codex Alera involves far less description of the appearance of female characters, including the main character's girlfriend.
Don't confuse the opinions of characters for the opinions of the writer. Roughly half the main cast of both series is female and they rescue the male characters from their spectacular fuckups at least as often as the other way around.
List of reasonably major female characters from both series who cannot reasonably be considered to be portrayed in a misogenist manner (excluding deeply flawed characters without particularly gendered negative traits)
Dresden: Laura Raith, Charity Carpenter, Murphy, all but one of the werewolf chicks (I'd dispute the last one too, but there is something of a basis), Commander Luccio, The Archive, Lily, Mab, Gard, the asian senior councilwoman, and probably others I can't recall.
Alera: Kitai, Hashat, Amara, Isana, High Lady Placida, Rook, the daughter of High Lord Ceres, the replacement Tribune Logistica, and basically every High Lady with an onscreen appearence except Invidia and Max's stepmom, both of whom are excluded under the gender-neutral jackass rule along with the Vord Queen. Plus a number of characters without enough screentime to qualify.
Don't confuse the opinions of characters for the opinions of the writer. Roughly half the main cast of both series is female and they rescue the male characters from their spectacular fuckups at least as often as the other way around.
List of reasonably major female characters from both series who cannot reasonably be considered to be portrayed in a misogenist manner (excluding deeply flawed characters without particularly gendered negative traits)
Dresden: Laura Raith, Charity Carpenter, Murphy, all but one of the werewolf chicks (I'd dispute the last one too, but there is something of a basis), Commander Luccio, The Archive, Lily, Mab, Gard, the asian senior councilwoman, and probably others I can't recall.
Alera: Kitai, Hashat, Amara, Isana, High Lady Placida, Rook, the daughter of High Lord Ceres, the replacement Tribune Logistica, and basically every High Lady with an onscreen appearence except Invidia and Max's stepmom, both of whom are excluded under the gender-neutral jackass rule along with the Vord Queen. Plus a number of characters without enough screentime to qualify.
DSMatticus wrote:It's not just that everything you say is stupid, but that they are Gordian knots of stupid that leave me completely bewildered as to where to even begin. After hearing you speak Alexander the Great would stab you and triumphantly declare the puzzle solved.
The senior councilwoman's name is Ancient Mai, and there's another councilwoman whose name I don't recall at the moment who shows up pretty late in the series but is pretty kickass as well. And of course don't forget Harry's young padawan Molly.name_here wrote:List of reasonably major female characters from both series who cannot reasonably be considered to be portrayed in a misogenist manner (excluding deeply flawed characters without particularly gendered negative traits)
Dresden: Laura Raith, Charity Carpenter, Murphy, all but one of the werewolf chicks (I'd dispute the last one too, but there is something of a basis), Commander Luccio, The Archive, Lily, Mab, Gard, the asian senior councilwoman, and probably others I can't recall.
Pretty much where I crashed, back in January. Somehow (another) sermon on how Fantasy Racism is Bad just isn't what I want out of discworld book. I'm trying to remember the last one that was actually funny, or indeed entertaining.Blasted wrote:Snuff, by Terry Pratchett.
I think at this stage I'm reading out of duty. I've enjoyed a lot of the discworld series, but I'm finding the last couple neither funny or easy reading.
I've slogged my way through half, but don't know if I can push myself through to the last hurrah.
Last edited by Voss on Wed May 23, 2012 7:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Making Money was funny.
Vebyast wrote:Here's a fun target for Major Creation: hydrazine. One casting every six seconds at CL9 gives you a bit more than 40 liters per second, which is comparable to the flow rates of some small, but serious, rocket engines. Six items running at full blast through a well-engineered engine will put you, and something like 50 tons of cargo, into space. Alternatively, if you thrust sideways, you will briefly be a fireball screaming across the sky at mach 14 before you melt from atmospheric friction.
Parts of it. The tedious repetition with the 'golems are people too' (which feet of clay did better) kept me from really enjoying it, and Moist never really struck me as a particularly interesting character.fectin wrote:Making Money was funny.
It is probably the last discworld book before the real decline though. It was on the edge, and everything after was definitely a let down.
I don't know, I enjoyed Making Money, Snuff, etc. I just recently read Unseen Academicals, which probably in the same grouping, and really enjoyed it, at least the parts dealing with the wizards and the game and Jewels becoming a fashion model. The whole "Romeo and Juliet in Discworld with Cyrano d'Bergerac helping out" was a bit trying, but the rest was good.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
Wintersmith was the last really, really good one, for me. I Shall Wear Midnight just wasn't in the same class; this is largely thanks to the Cunning Man really sucking as a villain.
Making Money was good, but not as good as Going Postal (which is one of my favorites; something about the continuity of metaphors and ideas). Unseen Academicals had its points, but it felt a little too awkward in places (although I was enormously pleased with Ridcully engaging the other half of his brain and Ponder Stibbons' other testicle finally dropping into place).
And Snuff..Some of the bits with goblin culture were interesting. The little bits of language, the natural inclination for craftsmanship; goblins totally work as a skilled-with-their-hands race. On the other hand, they were just another round of Racism is Bad, as mentioned above.
I did rather like the extra screen time Willikins got in Snuff, though.
And Small Gods is still my favorite. Followed up by things like Wee Free Men, Wintersmith, The Truth, Maskerade...
Making Money was good, but not as good as Going Postal (which is one of my favorites; something about the continuity of metaphors and ideas). Unseen Academicals had its points, but it felt a little too awkward in places (although I was enormously pleased with Ridcully engaging the other half of his brain and Ponder Stibbons' other testicle finally dropping into place).
And Snuff..Some of the bits with goblin culture were interesting. The little bits of language, the natural inclination for craftsmanship; goblins totally work as a skilled-with-their-hands race. On the other hand, they were just another round of Racism is Bad, as mentioned above.
I did rather like the extra screen time Willikins got in Snuff, though.
And Small Gods is still my favorite. Followed up by things like Wee Free Men, Wintersmith, The Truth, Maskerade...
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!