Books

[Cotigo]

At first I thought those Bunnies were fucking.  Damn it, Japan.

[Strago]

The Chronicles of The Black Company by Glen Cook- Finished The Black Company (book 1) and enjoyed it despite some minor annoyances.

Finished Shadows Linger (book 2) today and I feel the need to say something. Keep in mind, overall, I'm really digging this. Just, fuck you for doing that, Glen Cook. Just, fuck you. I don't care if you really did or didn't kill that character off. That was one of the more epic instances I've seen of trolling in a fantasy novel in quite a while. Just... what the fuck, man.

It's been a few years since I read those. Remind me of what you're talking about and why it infuriates you so?

[AndrewRogue]

The Chronicles of The Black Company by Glen Cook- Finished The Black Company (book 1) and enjoyed it despite some minor annoyances.

Finished Shadows Linger (book 2) today and I feel the need to say something. Keep in mind, overall, I'm really digging this. Just, fuck you for doing that, Glen Cook. Just, fuck you. I don't care if you really did or didn't kill that character off. That was one of the more epic instances I've seen of trolling in a fantasy novel in quite a while. Just... what the fuck, man.

It's been a few years since I read those. Remind me of what you're talking about and why it infuriates you so?

The Shadow Lingers Spoilers below
Raven's death(?) by slipping at the edge of a public bath, cracking his head and drowning.

[Cmdr_King]

American Gods- Finished with rather too many breaks in between sittings.  I choose to blame Nintendo's release death-march.

That said I'm not... really sure what to say about it.  While it was compelling reading, in a lot of ways it seems very flawed.  There are definite points where you can tell he wasn't sure how to get from A to B in the narrative, and due to its nature the characters tend towards extreme static-ness (they're Gods formed by belief, so obviously are established characters when they come into being).  Even Shadow I'm not really sure how to feel about.
At the same time the sheer density and knowledge of myth is screamingly obvious, and taken as a mystery the flaws don't stand out as much (that is, the 'confusion' in the narrative can be more readily dismissed as not knowing enough, and static characters are normal within the genre for various practical reasons).  So in all I know I enjoyed reading it, but am hard pressed to say for sure whether this is more related to my own biases or because of its own strength as a story.  Still, interesting in any event.

[Grefter]

It is Black Company, the world is just that brutal.  Everyone can die from anything.

[Strago]

Ahhh, right. Yeah, I actually recall kind of loving that. To each his own, of course.

[AndrewRogue]

Gref: In theory. That really hasn't applied for 2.5 books outside of that incident, though. People die, but I haven't really felt much in the way of anyone can die at anytime from anything. Everyone has died in combat or in suicidal decisions. And, given that quite a few named members are still alive at this point (although I have a feeling that won't last), there is still some feeling of plot armor.

Strago: It... is a thing that I found funny/amusing, but also annoyed me to no end? I'll go into it later, but the combination of first person perspective and casual character death has annoyed me on a couple occasions. I mean, there are plenty of ways to justify it, but from a raw, narrative perspective, it has bugged the ever loving hell out of me.

[superaielman]

Ordered the black company novels. Andrew makes it sound interesting, so hey. (Read Mistborn Andrew)

Edit: Warbreaker was good but very much stuck to Sanderson's normal formula. I was able to puzzle out most of the plot twists about halfway through.

[Hunter Sopko]

Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft- For all I enjoy the mythos, I've never actually read any of the books. Picked this up at Christmas and have been slowly working through it, but seeing as how I'm on a trip in New England, I figured it'd be appropriate to bring along and I've made pretty good progress. Currently on Sweet Ermengarde.

The Good: His early work is extremely hit or miss. The Tomb was excellent and probably still my favorite. The White Ship is head and shoulders above the rest of his more fantasy-based work. From Beyond has a great atmosphere and really sets the tone for whats to come in his later stuff. Honorable mentions to The Doom That Came To Sarnath and The Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family.

The Bad: Dagon was pretty uninteresting. Nyarlethotep was a pretty big letdown. The Picture In The House has a great setup but lets you down on the climax.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Just skip ahead to Dreams in the Witch-House or Colour out of Space.

[Shale]

Planetary: In one chapter, you have what amounts to a prolonged dissertation on the physical structure of reality, nanotechnology and the soul. In the next chapter one of the characters kicks a guy's spine clear out of his back. In other words, Warren Ellis wrote it. Good stuff.

[NotMiki]

Planetary: In one chapter, you have what amounts to a prolonged dissertation on the physical structure of reality, nanotechnology and the soul. In the next chapter one of the characters kicks a guy's spine clear out of his back. In other words, Warren Ellis wrote it. Good stuff.

Fun stuff.  Definitely one of Ellis' best.  Unlike a lot of what he writes, Planetary is sincere, a love letter from Ellis to science fiction in which he leaves behind his pretend disdain for superheroics.  what did you read? the collections of the issues?

[Shale]

The three collections that currently exist, and the remaining issues. Still have to pick up the sidestories. And yeah, "sincere" is a pretty good word for the series. It's rare to see Ellis overtly address genre conventions without mocking the hell out of them, but there was none of that in Planetary.

Okay, there was the Miracleman thing. Other than that, though!

[NotMiki]

and the Fantastic Four of course, but that's more an homage than anything.

Wikipedia says issue #27, which will be the last, will come out this October.  No offense to all parties involved, but I was in high school when this thing started up.  That's a long time.

[Shale]

Supposedly the holdup has been Cassaday, which is at least a change of pace from the usual thing where it's the writer's fault when an issue is two years late.

[NotMiki]

I was under the impression it was usually the artist.  Hell, one comic I read died an early death due to the editor not finding time for it in half a year.

Mm.  I wonder who's to blame for Astro City, on that note.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Don't be fooled, those writer-types can get awfully behind on their brilliant ideas. And considering that the artist has to play to the writer's whims...

This is not a veiled jab at Andrew. There is no veil involved, trust me.

[Grefter]

That is right Andy, Djinn is overtly thrusting your general direction.

[DjinnAndTonic]

That is right Andy, Djinn is overtly thrusting your general direction.

Y'know, for someone who proclaims disinterest in sex, you sure bring it up alot... >.>;;

And I always seem to be on the wrong end of it...

[Excal]

So, to distract us all from Grefter's not so subtle lust for Djinn, I may as well mention my own reading of late, since it has recently picked up.

Might as well start with something Super's been hyping for a while.  Mistborn is, in fact, excellent, and I'll be certain to check out the rest of the series.  It also makes me feel fairly good for the finale of Wheel of Time, because his style isn't that dissimilar from Jordan's, and he's a better writer.  One of the key things I noticed is that the book resolved around, well, a small handful of big ol' secrets, and not only were they handled with the appropriate dramatic weight, but they were also resolved in such a manner that you have all the clues, but that you wouldn't necessarily put them all together.  And, the way one or two of them piece together also work to imply information about the world.  So, yeah.  Good stuff.

The other thing I've read lately is a series called the Timeline Wars.  The first two books were pretty good, fluff pulp/tour guide things where you've got a hard boiled Philly PI meeting with all kinds of important figures from WWII, the Revolutionary War Period, and the time of Julius Caesar, as he helps change the course of history in a war over a few million alternate timelines.  A good light read so long as you don't look for plot holes.  The third book...  has a series long McGuffin that is finally supposed to accomplish it's purpose do...  nothing.  Have things which we're told have to happen occur just randomly for no apparent reason, and jumps around in terms of presentation and theme.  It felt less like it was a planned book, and more like the author was contractually obligated to either produce a third book, or otherwise end the series, and couldn't do so to the same standard as the first two books.  Potentially the most interesting in terms of ideas for an alternate history, it's still dragged down by the fact that it's own dramatic tension doesn't really hold together thanks to the shifting theme.

[Grefter]

Y'know, for someone who proclaims disinterest in sex, you sure bring it up alot... >.>;;

And I always seem to be on the wrong end of it...

It isn't the wrong end from where I am sitting.  You are the Uke even if you don't want to be.

I am not disinterested in it, like all components of the human condition it fascinates me as to why people are so absorbed in the entire process.  It is quaint process to say the least.

Also far more importantly is humor and bad jokes.  If half my jokes weren't vulgar that would only leave the half that people don't notice and I have to entertain someone other than myself occasionally.

[Taishyr]

I'm probably the one more disinterested in it, as I don't really find it interesting to try to understand why people like it so much.

I do agree that humor and bad jokes make it worthwhile to study, though.


EDIT: Oh uh... been reading very little lately out of a combined lack of funds and interest; did however just reread through Cryptonomicon and Wyrm. Would like to reread Diamond Age but can't find it.

[superaielman]

Black Company- Read the first novel in the series. Decently entertaining, just by being different from the normal fantasy novel. Not much else to say yet.

[NotMiki]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/opinion/05kristof.html?em

Apparently Nicholas Kristof also has opinions as to the best childrens' books.

Don't think I've read a one of them.  Misspent youth, to be sure.

[SnowFire]

The Black Company is good times.  Surprisingly, I enjoyed the second book about as much as the first.  Wasn't as big a fan of where they took the plot in the third book, though.  (And after that, my understanding is that it just becomes cash-in for a minor franchise.)

Agree about Lovecraft being hit & miss.  Notably when he thinks he's writing a detective story, things tend to go awry.  Lovecraft is fine at wonder and horror, but spotty on the suspense.  Still, it's fun in that Lovecraft is one of those exceptions that prove the rule - he violates half the rules about good writing and gets away with it anyway.  Attempts to replicate this usually end in utter failure and meandering sentences of the wrong kind of horror.

Grammar Nazi note: A judge is disinterested in the case before him because he has no "interests" in either side.  Biff is uninterested in literature because he is a bore and would rather spend his time at the truck-stop.

Current reading for myself: "All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror" on the 1953 coup that installed the Shah in Iran over the democracy that was there before.  Damnit.  Seemed topical, at least.  Reading the book is a reminder that history is really random, because Truman & Sec. State Acheson told the British to take a hike when they started whining about their extremely exploitative oil deal being overturned.  And Atlee probably would have shrugged and thrown up his hands.  But in short succession, elections return Churchill & the conservatives to power in Britain, and Eisenhower & John Foster Dulles come into the States.  Churchill is definitely a fighter, and they reframe the problem in terms of anti-communism (well, it was the British's darn fault that Iran might turn to the USSR for aid!), and the US gets into one of its most epic foreign policy mistakes ever.  Sigh.

Also: "The Discovery of France."  Amusing enough book about a British guy who travels France on a bike, intermixing anecdotes with a history of the "provincial" parts of France that were wild and crazy and barely connected to the main government for a looooooooong time.  Until 1900 or so, really, still with their own regional dialects that varied from village to village.  And huge forests, scrublands, swamps, etc. - even something that reminded me of Suikoden V's Raftfleet, an entire swamp where 20,000 people practically lived on boats and didn't pay taxes and ignored the government.  A nice reminder that things were fairly wild in the Old Country too while the US was being settled.  (With nice doses of occasional humor, or grisly tales of murdering government officials.)

Yeah, seem to be on a bit of a history kick at the moment.