To complete the multi media survey... what's on your BOOK SHELF right now.

[Robin Graves 6,054]

Anyone read the Agent Pendergast series by Preston & Child?

 

I just finished Blue Labyrinth (book 14).  It was good, not great. I am glad they are finally spending some time developing Constance.

 

 

I think the series peaked after book 5 or so, but they are still worth reading.

 

I read about five of them. the first three and then two more, but not sure if those were 4 and 5; I might have skipped one or two. Relic is still my favorite of the bunch.

[aadh 385]

 

 

perhaps I was spoiled by my love for the Belgariad and Mallorean.

 

I enjoyed the Belgariad, but not the Mallorean.

 

 

 

And as far as fantasy goes, the Black Company series by Glen Cook is some of the best stuff around.

 

 

I enjoyed the idea of the Belgariad and Mallorean better than the books themselves. He was a skilled worldbuilder, for sure.

[Two_Hands 280]

perhaps I was spoiled by my love for the Belgariad and Mallorean.

 

I enjoyed the Belgariad, but not the Mallorean.

 

 

 

And as far as fantasy goes, the Black Company series by Glen Cook is some of the best stuff around.

 

I enjoyed the idea of the Belgariad and Mallorean better than the books themselves. He was a skilled worldbuilder, for sure.

The problem I had with the Belgariad and the Mallorean (and the Tamuli) is that it's the same bloody story three times. And that the characters were ridiculously powerful, it's hard to be sympathetic to a character who fights a god and wins.

I like early American Gothic literature, so unsurprisingly I like some of HP Lovecraft (At the Mountains of Madness, The Rats in the Walls, The Colour out of Space) but I found the racism in some of his stories too off putting to get past. If you like HP Lovecraft I recommend Robert Chambers' The King in Yellow (better than anything Lovecraft wrote, imho).

The British historian Tom Holland wrote a couple of good vampire novels which I really enjoyed- The Vampyre, and Supping with Panthers. Not the usual vampire-novel style, and based around historical events (the titular vampire of the former is Lord Byron, who was the basis for the protagonist in the very first modern vampire novel).

Currently I'm on a bit of a le Carre kick; I've reread the Smiley novels, and read The Night Manager and The Naive and Sentimental Lover (the latter of which I highly recommend).

[aadh 385]

 

 

 

perhaps I was spoiled by my love for the Belgariad and Mallorean.

 

I enjoyed the Belgariad, but not the Mallorean.

 

 

 

And as far as fantasy goes, the Black Company series by Glen Cook is some of the best stuff around.

 

I enjoyed the idea of the Belgariad and Mallorean better than the books themselves. He was a skilled worldbuilder, for sure.

The problem I had with the Belgariad and the Mallorean (and the Tamuli) is that it's the same bloody story three times. And that the characters were ridiculously powerful, it's hard to be sympathetic to a character who fights a god and wins.

I like early American Gothic literature, so unsurprisingly I like some of HP Lovecraft (At the Mountains of Madness, The Rats in the Walls, The Colour out of Space) but I found the racism in some of his stories too off putting to get past. If you like HP Lovecraft I recommend Robert Chambers' The King in Yellow (better than anything Lovecraft wrote, imho).

The British historian Tom Holland wrote a couple of good vampire novels which I really enjoyed- The Vampyre, and Supping with Panthers. Not the usual vampire-novel style, and based around historical events (the titular vampire of the former is Lord Byron, who was the basis for the protagonist in the very first modern vampire novel).

Currently I'm on a bit of a le Carre kick; I've reread the Smiley novels, and read The Night Manager and The Naive and Sentimental Lover (the latter of which I highly recommend).

 

 

Thanks. I actually started the King in Yellow a bit ago (courtesy of True Detective, actually), but I'm having trouble getting into it. 

[Dagonet 7,246]

Guy Gavriel Kay people, Guy Gavriel Kay. .

[Robin Graves 6,054]

 

 

 

Thanks. I actually started the King in Yellow a bit ago (courtesy of True Detective, actually), but I'm having trouble getting into it. 

 

 

That's just you sanity struggeling...

 

But i get what you mean. The Repairer of Reputations is also a bit of a mind screw to read. Very odd to read a story about 1920's New York, written in 1895. '

 

me: "Wait what? NY didn't have suicide booth in the 1920's... did it?"

[Two_Hands 280]

Thanks. I actually started the King in Yellow a bit ago (courtesy of True Detective, actually), but I'm having trouble getting into it.

 

That's just you sanity struggeling...

 

But i get what you mean. The Repairer of Reputations is also a bit of a mind screw to read. Very odd to read a story about 1920's New York, written in 1895. '

 

me: "Wait what? NY didn't have suicide booth in the 1920's... did it?"

The important point to remember with Chambers (and similar authors) is that the narrator is not necessarily being honest with the reader. Repairer of Reputations is a good example of that

[Robin Graves 6,054]

 

 

Thanks. I actually started the King in Yellow a bit ago (courtesy of True Detective, actually), but I'm having trouble getting into it.

 

That's just you sanity struggeling...

 

But i get what you mean. The Repairer of Reputations is also a bit of a mind screw to read. Very odd to read a story about 1920's New York, written in 1895. '

 

me: "Wait what? NY didn't have suicide booth in the 1920's... did it?"

The important point to remember with Chambers (and similar authors) is that the narrator is not necessarily being honest with the reader. Repairer of Reputations is a good example of that

 

 

Speaking of Chambers, who's your fave "Mythos" author?

[Gosric 696]

Authors worth a look based on my library shelves. Part 1

China Meiville. Very talented British author abl to jumo effortlessly from 'weird' SF in the Vandermeer mode (Perdido Street Station) to steampunk (RailSea) to childrens literature (Un Lun Dun) to stuff that reads like LeCarre writing Kafka (Embassytown) all with his own individual style.

Helen Mirren...Ok, not an author but RED just came on and i was reminded about how much i like her.

Philip Reeve. A young adult author in the British sense of the word. Not so much ofnthe Twilight thank you. Some o his books are written for a much younger audience but actuallystill entertaining. But the Mortal Engines series is excellent. The best way to describe it is in the authors words. "Together the books cover nearly twenty years in the history of the Traction Era, a far-future age when cities move about hunting smaller mobile towns and dismantling those they catch for their raw materials.  Airships ply the skies, amphibious limpet-submarines lurk in the oceans, and dangerous bits of technology left over from a long-ago war lie waiting to be discovered and put to use in the looming conflict between the cities and their anti-tractionist enemies."

 

Mira Grant. Her first series is set well after a Zombie apocalypse and deals with a group of bloggers discovering the truth about its origins. It actually took me a bit to get into the first book but then i was hooked. Her second series is along the same lines but involves more of a medical thriller feel in the Crichton mode.

 

The Afterblight Chronicles. A shared wordl rather than one specific author, but i havent been letdown by any of them. Set in the gritty brutal world after a plague has eliminated most of the worlds population.

 

Deathlands. Ok.Not great quality but still entertaining. Started in 85 and close to 120 books by now i think. Another shared world based on the creation of British author James Axler. Set 100 years after the nuclear apocalypse. Quality varies but almost always entertaining
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathlands

[millernumber1 119]

I'm not the biggest fan of Mieville, but I did really enjoy RailSea - the Moby **** jokes and worldbuilding were really witty and fun.

 

I actually enjoy Mira Grant's non-pseudonymous alter ego Seanan McGuire a bit more - her October Daye urban fantasy series is one of my favorites.

[Gosric 696]

I didnt know she wrote under a different name. I'll have to look those up

[Two_Hands 280]

Thanks. I actually started the King in Yellow a bit ago (courtesy of True Detective, actually), but I'm having trouble getting into it.

 

That's just you sanity struggeling...

 

But i get what you mean. The Repairer of Reputations is also a bit of a mind screw to read. Very odd to read a story about 1920's New York, written in 1895. '

 

me: "Wait what? NY didn't have suicide booth in the 1920's... did it?"

The important point to remember with Chambers (and similar authors) is that the narrator is not necessarily being honest with the reader. Repairer of Reputations is a good example of that

 

Speaking of Chambers, who's your fave "Mythos" author?

Not sure actually. Clark Ashton Smith, maybe (though I haven't read much of his since I was young, so it may not seem so good now). I quite liked August Derleth's stuff, too, for all that Lovecraft purists don't like him.

[DirtDevil 1]

Two weeks ago - Doctor Sleep, Stephen King

Last Week - Robopocalypse, Daniel Wilson

This Week - Robogenesis, Daniel Wilson

Next on the list - Revival, Stephen King

Hmmm, seems to be a recurring pattern here.

I have also amassed the first 16 issues of the comic book Manhattan Projects by Johanthan Hickman and Nick Pitarra.  This series ranks right up there with Planetary by Warren Ellis.

[Robin Graves 6,054]

 

 

 Speaking of Chambers, who's your fave "Mythos" author?

Not sure actually. Clark Ashton Smith, maybe (though I haven't read much of his since I was young, so it may not seem so good now). I quite liked August Derleth's stuff, too, for all that Lovecraft purists don't like him.

 

 

I like Clarkashton. A lot more fantasy that most of H.P.'s work, but still enjoyable.

I agree with you on Derleth: slapping elemental concepts on the great old ones doesn't work and making the elder gods, the good guys, nonono. But I'm very glad he founded Arkham House.

 

I'm gonna go with Robert Bloch for my fave.

[Norym 291]

I just finished Ready Player One by Earnest Cline. It is pretty good.  Best book I think I have read in a few years.

It has a little bit of everything.

 

 

Excerpt from back of book below.

 

 

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. 
   But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape

 

 

 

Anyone else read it?  Any other opinions on it.

[FTS Gecko 24,135]

Currently reading Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss.  There's another **** fantasy sequel I have to wait for alongside George RR Martin...

[Norym 291]

Currently reading Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss.  There's another **** fantasy sequel I have to wait for alongside George RR Martin...

 

I decided a few years ago that I would not start another multi-book epic without it being finished or at least 4 books into the series. 

[Sithborg 11,644]

That's rough. I have enough withdrawal issues now that Jim Butcher's Dresden Files no longer hits a yearly release...

[Norym 291]

That's rough. I have enough withdrawal issues now that Jim Butcher's Dresden Files no longer hits a yearly release...

 

 

Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series is a pretty good plug in for the Dresden Files.  And he has a 6 book and a few short stories head start now,  

[Dagonet 7,246]

In the Shadow of the Sword, Tom Holland, on the origins of Islam out of the failing empires of the era.

 

The Prince Lestat. Because how could I not, the brat prince is back after so long.

[WonderWAAAGH 7,153]

Currently reading Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss.  There's another **** fantasy sequel I have to wait for alongside George RR Martin...

 

You're lucky that you only have to wait from this moment onwards. I zipped through that book at release, and I've been waiting since.

[Cununculus 661]

Rupsje nooit genoeg.

[Vorpal Sword 14,685]

I just finished Ready Player One by Earnest Cline. It is pretty good.  Best book I think I have read in a few years.

It has a little bit of everything.

 

 

Excerpt from back of book below.

 

 

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. 

   But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape

 

 

Anyone else read it?  Any other opinions on it.

Ready Player One is okay, but it felt to me like the author had read Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and decided to play with the same ideas but without the sex and drugs and religion.

And since I like stories about sex and drugs and religion...

[Dagonet 7,246]

Rupsje nooit genoeg.

Pretty soon you should upgrade to Paul Biegel and then Tonke Dragt. Hang in there

[Robin Graves 6,054]

LOL. "Tonke Dragt", I haven't heard that name in a long while. "Torenhoog en mijlenbreed" was a good read.