@MightyDemon82 Interested to hear your thoughts on Authority. I didn't connect at all with Annihilation and found it to be frustrating (and the movie even moreso). I can't put my finger on why, though, but as a result, I never read the sequels, so I'm curious to hear how the entire trilogy works as a whole
@FuriousMachine I liked the first book but need to re-watch the movie as I fell asleep when I originally seen it. I'll give you my thoughts once I've read them!
Now onto Collection of Sand by Calvino. I wouldn't recommend Italian Folktales actually, as, at 713 pages of tales with mostly happy endings.... it gets a bit much!. Collection of Sand is faring much better so far, a much slimmer volume at about 240 pages and is a collection of his short non-fiction works, travel writing and such.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
Finished The Killing Room (Goodreads page), the third book in Peter May's China Thrillers series. I've enjoyed them so far, but this was the weakest of the bunch. I guess I got a little tired of the love/hate drama between the two protagonists. I get that it's "good" drama, but, for me, it got a bit tiresome now. The case they are trying to solve this time is quite horrific, but I didn't find it all that engaging. A couple of new characters are introduced, but I feel they were ultimately squandered. Still, the novel was good enough for three stars in my Goodreads review.
And that closes out my reading year for 2023 and I just barely made my reading challenge goal of 30 books. For 2024 I may lower it to 25 books, as I have fewer reading opportunities now.
During the coming year I plan to finish out The Witcher series, as well as wrapping up the China Thrillers. I also plan to keep a steady pace through Michael Connelly's Bosch-universe and return to a more regular pace of reading old Stephen King and Dean Koontz books.
First up, though, is James Clavell's Shogun (Goodreads page), an epic which I hope to finish before the new TV adaptation premieres at the end of February. Can't believe it's taken me this long to dive into it, really looking forward to it
@PixelDragon Yeah, I saw it back around when it first came out, but I was very young and I remember almost nothing of it. I bought it on DVD quite a while ago, but never got around to watching it. I will give it a go, but I think I should wait a bit to avoid the risk of getting "Shogun overload" (real medical condition, very nasty). Will be interesting to compare and contrast with both the book and the new adaptation, though
Have you read the other books in Clavell's Asian saga? As I understand it, they aren't really all that connected, other than being historical dramas set in Asia, but I wonder if they are equally as loved as "Shogun".
I don't know how, but I've read 60 books this year. I struggled for a bit with Authority in the mid section but I pushed through. I'll still read Acceptance but will read something else first.
My final book of the year was The Golden Mole by Katherine Rundell. A book about wondrous creatures on the planet!
2024 will be fantasy and Sci-fi heavy. Kicking off With either Blake Crouch (Dark Matter, Upgrade), Gene Wolfe - Book of the new sun or Dan Simmons - The Fall of Hyperion.
Just finished the Lightbringer series, 5 book epic fantasy. Really enjoyed it although the ending is not the most popular.
Curious if anyone finished it and their thoughts.
@MightyDemon82 Sounds good; you've got some nice reads ahead of you there, in my opinion I enjoyed "The Hyperion Cantos" quite a lot, but struggled a little bit with "The Fall of Hyperion". I fell off the narrative a little bit early on and felt like I was dragged behind the horse, struggling to keep up, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The next two books were absolutely brilliant, I thought, "Endymion" in particular. Excellent read!
"Book of the new Sun" series added to reading list!
Happy new year, everyone, may it bring lots of reading goodness to all
I do enjoy a good 40k novel. The Horus Heresy must be one of the longest series going.
Hyperion is a great story. I think the ending leaves something to be desired, but often seems to be the case with science fiction and fantasy. Certainly a very memorable read and well worth the time.
@Shepherd_Tallon Been hearing good things about "Empire of the Vampire" and I'm looking forward to reading it, but decided to hold off until the release of the third book is a bit closer so that I can read them fairly close together. Interested in hearing your thoughts on the second one when you've read it
@FuriousMachine The first book was the first fantasy novel I came across in years that I read in a few days. A lot of fantasy novels since The Wheel of Time ended feel to me like they are written to be easily adapted in to a TV show or something.
They're all fast paced, which is great, but very few of them these days take the time to meander a little and the world building suffers I feel. (I know it's a matter of taste.)
I think Vampire strikes a nice balance. I'm more excited for the second novel than I have been for any movie and a lot of games.
I'll remember to come back and let you know my verdict.
"It's been my lifelong dream to operate a drill a hundred times bigger than me!"
First book of the year finished. Before I dive into sci-fi and fantasy I ended up reading All that Remains by Sue Black. A Scottish anthropologist. A fascinating and moving account of her time in the field and how she has dealt with her own personal losses, has certainly given me a lot to think about when it comes to the end of my time here on the planet.
Fantastic to see lots of posts in here. I love comics, watchmen and Sandman are top quality reads. Nothing tops Hellboy for me though.
I’m about finished BioShock: Rapture by John Shirley. It’s a prequel to the original game, and also cannon. It’s absolutely fantastic and worth a read if you’re interested in the franchise.
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