Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 2

Leaping Gnome · 03-22-2007, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simple dave

I'm currently reading Lies of Locke Lamora, but I find it hard to get into.

Give it a chance, it definitely speeds up about 1/4 to 1/3rd of the way through.

I'm currently on book 5 of the Honor Harrington series from David Weber, so far so good, I'm interested to see where it goes in the next five books.

igorsk · 03-22-2007, 08:48 PM

If you're wondering (like I was) when it's better to read Honor anthologies and side stories, check the suggested reading order.

nekokami · 03-23-2007, 10:19 AM

@NatCh - Just doing my bit to reduce the opacity of the market.

@yvan - I'm a big C.J. Cherryh fan, though I like her "Compact" books (e.g. The Pride of Chanur) better than her "Company Wars" books. The Company Wars books would probably be more like Asimov's Foundation books, though. Books in the Company Wars set that I did particularly like include Finity's End, Cyteen, Rimrunners, and Cuckoo's Egg. I guess I usually prefer a strong focus on a few characters, rather than a story told from many points of view where you don't get to know any of the characters as well, though I should say that I do find her other books interesting as well. You might also try her fantasy, e.g. The Dreaming Tree. Or, for something really different (if you can find a copy), Wave Without a Shore.

Alexander Turcic · 03-23-2007, 10:29 AM

My current read: Innocent in Death by JD Robb. Publishers' Weekly says:

Once again Lt. Eve Dallas shows why she's "New York City's top murder cop" in Roberts's 24th thriller under her Robb pseudonym set half a century into the future (after 2006's Born in Death). Dallas tries to close a case at the exclusive Sarah Child Academy, where two bright 10-year-old girls discover the body of Craig Foster, a popular history teacher who proves to have been poisoned by ricin-laced cocoa. Dallas wonders if another staff member or a parent might be involved, but after the prime suspect, a promiscuous teacher who's been harassing another employee, turns up dead, the investigation takes a shocking turn. Besides a provocative puzzler, Robb provides an intense relationship update on Dallas and Roarke, her Irish power broker hubby, whose dark past--in the form of a crooked ex-girlfriend--returns to cause trouble. This prolific author, a recent Quills romance winner, is still at the top of her game.

yvanleterrible · 03-23-2007, 11:22 AM

@ Nekokami

CJ's an extraordinary writer. Did you read the Foreigner series? I started with the second by ignorance that is was from a series. When I found out I read the rest. I loved the humanness of it. I now plan to read the rest of her work, that's why I'm going back to 'Company wars. I also read 'Cyteen' and the second 'Chanur'. I'm not a big fan of fantasy but since it's CJ, I will read it.

I'm in to scifi because of futurology. It is the biggest source of new ideas for designs, concepts and living experiences. Many of today's things we use, including the computer, the ebook and I pass, were born from fiction. As a conceptor of furniture, I tend to listen to every idea in setting up the brain storm necessary to my creation. I believe that todays designers don't do much of that anymore. The dreams we get from a good book are the basis of creation and solution. Is it why we read so much?

nekokami · 03-23-2007, 01:39 PM

@yvanleterrible, oddly enough, I haven't read the Foreigner series yet. I'll try one, based on your recommendation. While some might characterize Cherryh's works as "military SF," I've usually thought of them as more "sociological SF" because even those with military action seem to be much more about the clash of multiple cultures, and how it affects individuals. (This is perhaps most clear in Wave Without a Shore, in which the entire conflict is psychological and sociological.)

You might also like the works of David Brin (particularly Earth, Orson Scott Card, James Schmitz, or Sherri Tepper. Not because they "write like Cherryh" (nobody does), but because they also work with broad landscapes, alien cultures, and individuals.

And of course, for futurology, I'd be remiss not to recommend Heinlein.

NatCh · 03-23-2007, 03:15 PM

I liked Brin's Kiln People, and Glory Season, but I found Earth too aggressively propa-green-dist for my tastes -- it's not that I mind a story that assumes Global Warming as a setting/plot point, but it seemed he had to keep telling me about it (in a somewhat preachy manner) every third page, I gave up about 1/3 of the way through. Too bad, really, I found the story concept quite intriguing.

One thing about Brin, that I like and dislike at the same time, is that he almost never explains anything, you have to figure out what's being discussed from context. That means you don't get the story line interrupted by a lengthy treatise on, say the political/culture structure of a colony world that's been cut off from the rest of the human diaspora, but you have to spend a lot of time/effort figuring out that structure from the contextual off-hand comments and interactions of the characters. It makes the story flow nicely, and it's a good intellectual exercise, but it can be confusing in the early part of a story.

da_jane · 03-23-2007, 03:20 PM

Is this an ebook directed question? Because currently I am reading DarkAngel by Meredith Ann Pierce. The last ebook I read was Margaret and Lizz Weiss' Warrior Angel that was so horrible it made me want to poke my eyes out.

Xenophon · 03-23-2007, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

I liked Brin's Kiln People, and Glory Season, but I found Earth too aggressively propa-green-dist for my tastes -- it's not that I mind a story that assumes Global Warming as a setting/plot point, but it seemed he had to keep telling me about it (in a somewhat preachy manner) every third page, I gave up about 1/3 of the way through. Too bad, really, I found the story concept quite intriguing.

One thing about Brin, that I like and dislike at the same time, is that he almost never explains anything, you have to figure out what's being discussed from context. That means you don't get the story line interrupted by a lengthy treatise on, say the political/culture structure of a colony world that's been cut off from the rest of the human diaspora, but you have to spend a lot of time/effort figuring out that structure from the contextual off-hand comments and interactions of the characters. It makes the story flow nicely, and it's a good intellectual exercise, but it can be confusing in the early part of a story.

NatCH --

Run out and acquire Brin's Uplift books (Sundiver, Startide Rising, The Uplift War, Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore, and Heaven's Reach). Anyone who can have a character (paraphrasing here) experience 'a strong sense of deja-vu caused by a near-miss by a probability weapon' (he worded it better) is just not to be missed. That series is my favorite of his books, btw.

Xenophon

P.S. Sundiver is the weakest entry in the series, although still quite good. You can read the others without having read Sundiver, and not miss too much.

NatCh · 03-23-2007, 03:34 PM

Thanks for the recommedation, Xenophon.

I've had the uplift books recommended to me before, so they're on my second string list, i.e. stuff to look at when I'm out of books by my 'favorite' authors.

NatCh · 03-23-2007, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by da_jane

Is this an ebook directed question?

Whether it was intended to be or not, it seems to have firmly branched out to 'whatever' format.

nekokami · 03-23-2007, 10:06 PM

Darkangel is quite good. The sequels are good, too.

Funny, I liked Sundiver a lot, but it stands a bit apart from the other "Uplift" books. It's really a mystery in an SF setting. The others are more space-opera, I think. (I liked them, too.)

I know what you mean about Earth, I guess I just liked the exploration of online communities a lot (and the black hole stuff, too). And the idea of teens as "tribes."

I suppose I should also recommend The Diamond Age in this context, though we've discussed it in this forum before.

@yvan, I should also recommend Iain Banks, particularly The Player of Games.

nekokami · 03-26-2007, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

Whether it was intended to be or not, it seems to have firmly branched out to 'whatever' format.

I know I did mention one book in paper because I wanted to make the point that I can't find it in ebook format. Some of the other books I've mentioned are available in ebook format, but not "officially."

NatCh · 03-26-2007, 12:12 PM

I don't see a problem with discussing non-e-books as well -- we are Readers as well as Mobile. Besides, last I checked, paper books were still fairly mobile.

mdbenoit · 03-27-2007, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Say! There are many threads popping up that cater to the same, exact subject. We should have a permanent book forum in the Frontpage dedicated to that.
Alex?

Has anyone ever moseyed over to LibraryThing? You can even start your own group. We're all committed readers out there. It's fun.

03-23-2007, 10:06 PM	#27
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Darkangel is quite good. The sequels are good, too. Funny, I liked Sundiver a lot, but it stands a bit apart from the other "Uplift" books. It's really a mystery in an SF setting. The others are more space-opera, I think. (I liked them, too.) I know what you mean about Earth, I guess I just liked the exploration of online communities a lot (and the black hole stuff, too). And the idea of teens as "tribes." I suppose I should also recommend The Diamond Age in this context, though we've discussed it in this forum before. @yvan, I should also recommend Iain Banks, particularly The Player of Games. Last edited by nekokami; 03-26-2007 at 12:05 PM. Reason: Player of Games

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03-22-2007, 08:48 PM	#17
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	If you're wondering (like I was) when it's better to read Honor anthologies and side stories, check the suggested reading order.

03-23-2007, 10:19 AM	#18
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	@NatCh - Just doing my bit to reduce the opacity of the market. @yvan - I'm a big C.J. Cherryh fan, though I like her "Compact" books (e.g. The Pride of Chanur) better than her "Company Wars" books. The Company Wars books would probably be more like Asimov's Foundation books, though. Books in the Company Wars set that I did particularly like include Finity's End, Cyteen, Rimrunners, and Cuckoo's Egg. I guess I usually prefer a strong focus on a few characters, rather than a story told from many points of view where you don't get to know any of the characters as well, though I should say that I do find her other books interesting as well. You might also try her fantasy, e.g. The Dreaming Tree. Or, for something really different (if you can find a copy), Wave Without a Shore.

03-23-2007, 10:29 AM	#19
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,171 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	My current read: Innocent in Death by JD Robb. Publishers' Weekly says: Once again Lt. Eve Dallas shows why she's "New York City's top murder cop" in Roberts's 24th thriller under her Robb pseudonym set half a century into the future (after 2006's Born in Death). Dallas tries to close a case at the exclusive Sarah Child Academy, where two bright 10-year-old girls discover the body of Craig Foster, a popular history teacher who proves to have been poisoned by ricin-laced cocoa. Dallas wonders if another staff member or a parent might be involved, but after the prime suspect, a promiscuous teacher who's been harassing another employee, turns up dead, the investigation takes a shocking turn. Besides a provocative puzzler, Robb provides an intense relationship update on Dallas and Roarke, her Irish power broker hubby, whose dark past--in the form of a crooked ex-girlfriend--returns to cause trouble. This prolific author, a recent Quills romance winner, is still at the top of her game.

03-23-2007, 11:22 AM	#20
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	@ Nekokami CJ's an extraordinary writer. Did you read the Foreigner series? I started with the second by ignorance that is was from a series. When I found out I read the rest. I loved the humanness of it. I now plan to read the rest of her work, that's why I'm going back to 'Company wars. I also read 'Cyteen' and the second 'Chanur'. I'm not a big fan of fantasy but since it's CJ, I will read it. I'm in to scifi because of futurology. It is the biggest source of new ideas for designs, concepts and living experiences. Many of today's things we use, including the computer, the ebook and I pass, were born from fiction. As a conceptor of furniture, I tend to listen to every idea in setting up the brain storm necessary to my creation. I believe that todays designers don't do much of that anymore. The dreams we get from a good book are the basis of creation and solution. Is it why we read so much?

03-23-2007, 01:39 PM	#21
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	@yvanleterrible, oddly enough, I haven't read the Foreigner series yet. I'll try one, based on your recommendation. While some might characterize Cherryh's works as "military SF," I've usually thought of them as more "sociological SF" because even those with military action seem to be much more about the clash of multiple cultures, and how it affects individuals. (This is perhaps most clear in Wave Without a Shore, in which the entire conflict is psychological and sociological.) You might also like the works of David Brin (particularly Earth, Orson Scott Card, James Schmitz, or Sherri Tepper. Not because they "write like Cherryh" (nobody does), but because they also work with broad landscapes, alien cultures, and individuals. And of course, for futurology, I'd be remiss not to recommend Heinlein.

03-23-2007, 03:15 PM	#22
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	I liked Brin's Kiln People, and Glory Season, but I found Earth too aggressively propa-green-dist for my tastes -- it's not that I mind a story that assumes Global Warming as a setting/plot point, but it seemed he had to keep telling me about it (in a somewhat preachy manner) every third page, I gave up about 1/3 of the way through. Too bad, really, I found the story concept quite intriguing. One thing about Brin, that I like and dislike at the same time, is that he almost never explains anything, you have to figure out what's being discussed from context. That means you don't get the story line interrupted by a lengthy treatise on, say the political/culture structure of a colony world that's been cut off from the rest of the human diaspora, but you have to spend a lot of time/effort figuring out that structure from the contextual off-hand comments and interactions of the characters. It makes the story flow nicely, and it's a good intellectual exercise, but it can be confusing in the early part of a story.

03-23-2007, 03:20 PM	#23
da_jane Evangelist Posts: 405 Karma: 692 Join Date: Sep 2006 Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 \| Kindle Paperwhite \| iPad Mini	Is this an ebook directed question? Because currently I am reading DarkAngel by Meredith Ann Pierce. The last ebook I read was Margaret and Lizz Weiss' Warrior Angel that was so horrible it made me want to poke my eyes out.

03-23-2007, 03:34 PM	#25
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Thanks for the recommedation, Xenophon. I've had the uplift books recommended to me before, so they're on my second string list, i.e. stuff to look at when I'm out of books by my 'favorite' authors.

03-26-2007, 12:12 PM	#29
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	I don't see a problem with discussing non-e-books as well -- we are Readers as well as Mobile. Besides, last I checked, paper books were still fairly mobile.

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