Finished Nathan Ballingrud's The Strange last night and that was a bit of a new experience for me: For the longest time I found the story completely uninteresting, but the well-written characters, setting and all around solid writing kept me glued to the book like nothing else. It feels strange (ahem) to award four and half stars to a novel with a story I couldn't care less about, but here we are. For a "pulp sci-fi" novel, the writing is just that good.
The Gernsback Continuum was my palate cleanser from William Gibson's Burning Chrome short-story collection this time, which was a fun little story that reminds us that the "perfect" visions of the future from the 30s and 40s had a dark side
I was listening to a bit more Tower of Fools last night and simply kept falling asleep and had to stop, and you have churned through 4 million books since I started that 😂
It is really quite good though. Which is why, seemingly, I want to make jokes and observations in Latin now. A trait I'm sure will get ever increasingly more annoying 😁
deprecationem sui, et se ipsum ridere posse, est vitalis
When it seems you're out of luck.
There's just one man who gives a f*************ck
⚔️🛡🐎
I recently finished Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I have mixed feelings about it. Overall, it’s an incredible piece of fiction, and creatively does unique things regarding evolution. With that said, I wasn’t invested in some chapters that alternate between certain characters. By the end of the book, I understood thematically why it was written that way, and I applaud it because of how brilliant it was, but I wasn’t completely hooked. It’s also the first book in a trilogy so I can only assume it gets better from here.
I also just started The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. I can’t give too many thoughts on it since I’m only a few pages in, but I’m excited to delve deeper into this First Law trilogy that seems to be as epic as Shogun.
@Ravix hehehe, as long as you don't expect us all to understand Latin, we're all good
@Kraven Hope you'll enjoy Abercrombie; it's a great fantasy trilogy (though "Shogun" wouldn't be my first comparison) and there are several other excellent novels by him in the same world worth reading as well
I recently finished Curry: Eating, Reading and Race by Naben Ruthnum. I found it highly interesting concerning the feeling of being trapped within the confines of being expected to conform to a set of predetermined rules, which are largely based on out-of-date and outmoded stereotypes. Fascinating book. Highly recommended!
"Even in the face of death, the samurai stands unwavering, for honour is a blade sharper than steel".
Finished Stephen King's Fairy Tale last night, which, at 600 pages, is a lengthy novel, but, though uneven, is never boring or feels like it overstays its welcome. It starts out strong - the first 150 pages or so are simply fantastic - which is actually a problem for the book, as this serves more or less as the prologue.
When we get to the titular meat of the story, things actually get a little bit less interesting and goes to a completely different place, both figuratively and literally. While the rest of the novel is quite good, it never reaches the heights of the beginning, which is why I only give it four stars. As is par for the course with King, the novel is brimful of unforgettable characters you'll love and loathe and also one of the goodest dogs you'll ever meet. They will all stay with me for a long time, I think.
I'm continuing to intersperse my novels with William Gibson's short stories from the Burning Chrome collection, but the latest story, Fragments of a Hologram Rose, was simply too short and insubstantial to leave any meaningful impression. Two stars.
My Dragonlance reading project came to a screeching halt when I discovered that none of my planned upcoming novels were available digitally and most of them were also difficult to find in physical editions. I therefore diverted to another D&D setting, the Forgotten Realms, and found a couple of series I want to check out. It is fitting, then, to start with Pool of Radiance by James M. Ward, as I'm currently playing the 1988 classic crpg with the same name from the venerated "Gold Box Series" by SSI. It will be interesting to see how (if!) the two intersect.
@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Great tip, thanks! Hadn't heard of it, but it's added to my list. The Pool of Radiance D&D novels are... not great, so far at least (only halfway into the first one). It's not horribly bad, but very vanilla and reads like someone's first fan fiction. If it doesn't pick up soon, I may abandon it.
Finished The Tower of Fools last night and it ended in a very "buy my next book" way 😅
I really quite like it, the characters are fairly strange, and it's very Sapkowski overall. The protagonist is a hopeless fool that you can't help liking, but you do want to shout at him for being such an idiot, like the characters that surround him often have to 😅
Nearer to the end it started to really delve into the Hussite wars, which was my main draw initially, but there's some bits of fantasy along the way which is more of a small compliment to the realism of the medieval world and the conflicts of religions and beliefs, rather than being wall to wall magic and elves. Kind of framed in a way that: people of that time period kind of believed in witchcraft and demons and all that jazz, so some of that is made real as part of its setting. The rest of the time it is Leige Lords, Knights, Raubritter, Bandits, Bishops, Priests, Imquisitors, simple folk, Historical figures and inventions of the time, heretics, burnings, caved in heads. The magic elements are almost used as comic relief, to be fair 😂 I'm also starting to get Witcher Hanza vibes, and Geralt's travelling party was some of the best content in all of the Witcher novels, so that is good. Can't beat a good group of mismatched comrades struggling along to some goal, very much like D&D in that way, I suppose.
Bring your Latin dictionary if you are thinking of reading this one.
@Ravix Sounds like a great read I'm a bit wary about the latin, though. How much would you say hinges on the reader being able to understand the latin (either via lookup or linguistic merit)?
@FuriousMachine more so than it would it in The Witcher, where it was used exclusively for gag punchlines and common sayings made fancier for effect. Those parts remain, but there is a lot of language used by the religious characters as they quote things like lessons from the Bible in Latin, as well as some casual conversation. But I also enjoyed looking up and making educated guesses at some parts.
You speak a good few languages, right? And I'm sure some of them have some basis in Latin, and thus some of it is visably and audibly related to words you will know the meaning of anyway, I'd suggest. So that, teamed with educated guesses and a few look ups is fine, I'd say.
I'll add, if the language (of which it could be many European languages featured) is discussing a key plot point, it will usually be followed by the translation or gist of what was said right after, too. The rest is more for grounding of the characters in the time period and location, and adding flair. Well worth looking up or having a grasp of, but not truly vital.
The more vital thing would be a basic knowledge of how the church (with control from Rome) and the Christian empires, countries, baronies etc functioned back then. And also basic knowledge of the existence of things like the Holy militias, inquisitions and the totally batsh*t war on heresy. And maybe a loose understanding of Jan Hus who was burnt at the stake which pretty much led to the extreme political and religious tension of the setting.
@Ravix Hmm, sounds like quite a bit of pre-requisites there. I have never had much interest in the things you mention, so I wouldn't consider my knowledge level in those areas as even "basic".
As for me "speaking a good few languages", that would be an extremely generous way of putting it; I speak two, Norwegian and English (and know a couple of words and phrases in Spanish), so not sure how much they will help with the latin
But, I may still check it out, because as my grandmother used to say, "si nihil conatum, nihil acquisitum"
@FuriousMachine I maybe laid it on a bit thick, as a means of being wary, but it's a very simple story to understand and is equal part murder mystery and road movie in its basest form. I'm just quite nerdy about the setting, tbh, so I enjoyed it for that reason, too. Didn't want to make any guarantees you'll like it, but its Sapkowski and it's good, and there's a lot of added bonuses for me, personally too.
And, there you are laying on some Sapkowski style latin humour at the end, as I knew it instantly as; nothing ventured, nothing gained. Context is a wonderful thing in language 😁
The first words of Book 2 chapter one, after a nice little prologue, have me laughing and hooked already for the journey ahead too btw. And i've heard if you like book one it only gets better from there.
I think Sapkowski was always very experimental with how he framed his stories within stories, within stories, and usually started books and chapters in unique ways, but by this he seems to have found his perfect style, I'd say. And, as I say, now i'm hooked from line one 😅
[...] it's a very simple story to understand [...]
I'm good at "very simple"
You've done a great job selling me on this, to be fair. Also, I kept forgetting that this wasn't a "Sapkowski-like". but an actual Sapkowski, so that also tips the scales heavily in its favour.
It has been duly added to my reading list
62%. That's as far as I got with James M. Ward's Pool of Radiance before abandoning it. It wasn't horribly bad or anything, I just found it incredibly bland and boring. The characters did not appeal to me and the story didn't engage me. I'm sure this is a great nostalgia read for the many who grew up with this serving as early exposure to the genre, but newcomers looking for an engaging story set in the Forgotten Realms should probably look elsewhere. I also got reminded about something I used to know, but evidently had forgotten: Never buy the other books in a series until you've finished the first one. Lesson learned, again.
(Side note: I'm still enjoying the game, though it's not for everyone. I'll post my thoughts on it in another thread when I'm done with it)
My William Gibson short-story palate cleanser from his Burning Chrome collection was a bit more substantial than the previous one and immensely more enjoyable. Called The Belonging Kind, co-written by John Shirley, it was a fun little novella about a man who never seems to fit in anywhere meeting a woman who seems to always fit in, no matter the setting. Four stars.
To replace the failed fantasy novel, I've chosen The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich, a fairly short noir pulp novel from 1940. This is my first encounter with this particular author, but I'm given to understand that he was a celebrated suspense author who, notably, wrote the novel Hitchcock's excellent "Rear Window" is based on. Excited to check this one out!
I thought it best to post my thoughts here on the latest game I played as it's text heavy, so like minds and all that. I am late to the party but Citizen Sleeper is fantastic. The story is well written. Choices matter. The music is perfect. Worked great with headphones. It helped that I just reread the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Well.(such amazing books). I tried to Role Play as murderbot as my sleeper. I strongly recommend the game.
@Elodin Have it on my wishlist, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Heard many good things! The same can be said of Murderbot Diaries, as well (also on my reading list). Glad to hear both are worth the time
Finished the rather short The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich, a classic pulp noir from the 40s. I had never heard of this book or its author until it was mentioned in a Stephen King novel I recently read, and I am glad I decided to check it out. The prose can be a bit challenging due to idioms and expressions used at the time that may be unfamiliar, but anyone who's seen old gangster movies should be fine. Excellent stuff, four stars.
More good stuff from William Gibson's Burning Chrome collection of novellas and short stories, too. The latest I read, Hinterlands, was a very intriguing novella exploring the negative effects of encountering a superior civilization on the human mind and the lengths we'll go in order to further our understanding of the universe. Would have loved a full length novel of this one, as it was ripe with potential. Five stars.
And now, back to more contemporary crime fiction with another Harry Bosch novel, Michael Connelly's Two Kinds of Truth
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