Started Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch. Book 3 of Rivers of London series.
Just started it, not much to say about it yet.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
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Still Reading Infinite Jest. Nearing the end finally
Worth the slog?
To me, nope. There s a great book somewhere inside it for sure. But note sure it s worth the Hassle. Bear in mind, that i chose to read it in english while i m French. So it may be why i m having a hard time reading it. A lot of people love this book tho. That s why i gave it a shot.
The Eye of the World, Wheel of Time series book 1
To me it is the best fantasy saga i ve read. Nice characters, nice actions, nice thoughts. Have fun !
The first couple of those are great.
Well, you’re in for the long haul
it’s a pretty good series, if a bit lengthy at times
“The Blade Itself” by Joe Abercrombie. It may have been a little overhyped, but I’m enjoying it so far.
I read the series years ago, and recently learned that it’s not just a trilogy! I just re-read the first three, read the second three for the first time, and am planning to start the next three (starting with A Little Hatred) in the next month.
I find the world-building in the first trilogy quite good, and I like having a bit of a darker story.
I just started it today!
I’m nearing the end of The Hunt For Red October. I remembered I liked reading Clancy’s Politika when I was a teenager and the recent show of Jack Ryan made me curious about the books.
I found out that there are some major movie titles based on Jack Ryan books, like October but also The Sum of All Fears, Clear and Present Danger and Rainbow Six, which is of course a video game series.
It’s pretty fun to read the books and imagine Jack Ryan played by John Krasinski.
English is not my native language but if at all possible I try to read these kinds of books in the original language. Clancy is a good writer, although sometimes punctuation could provide a bit more readability.
In any event, it’s a book that finds it drive very late, but somehow keeps you engaged through some really boring chapters because you continuously feel something big is going to happen soon. When it does find its drive, it’s a bit anticlimactic. Over the entity of the book (or at least where I’m currently at) especially dialog and character description made it a very lively book. Clancy is also pretty detailed when it comes to army, navy and air force stuffs. It just feels well-researched, even though it’s fully possible it’s all incorrect.
Clancy books realy go deep into the tech of war, so he spends a lot of time describing weapon systems and military processes.
I have read a number of his books and the two I highly recommend are The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising,
I’m working my way through the Great Hunt still. Had to hit the brakes for some IRL stuff taking up most of my headspace, but will hopefully continue on here soon.
Is it part of the wheel of Time?
Great Hunt is the 2nd book in the Wheel of Time.
Yup, Book 2.
It’s a shame because I like the plot significantly more than the first so far.
I found that it gets better after each Book. Have fun, it holds a special place in my monde.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons. A very imaginative book. Which could be considered a backhanded compliment. I dont think he always gets it right but on the balance it’s an engaging read. Best of all its a trilogy so more books to go. Hopefully the quality keeps up.
How are you finding the rivers of London series?
I’ve just finished ‘The Goldens’ by Lauren Wilson. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I enjoyed it, but can’t work out if I think it was mostly trashy fun or something more than that.
Not OP, but I’ve read the first 4 books in the Rivers of London series. I’ve enjoyed them a decent bit. They’re fun and lighthearted.
As somebody who has read a few of them, I also enjoy it. It’s a good take on urban fantasy and the main protagonist is a lot of fun.
They are pretty fun, kind of police procedural, but with magic.
The mountain in the sea, Ray Nayler
The butcher’s masquerade, DC #5, Matt Dinniman
Wreck jumpers, Anspach and Cole
Are they good?
Mount in the sea is good, it’s about contacting other intelligent life and what it means to be human
Dungeon crawler Carl books are always very entertaining. #5 is pretty funny, had me laughing out loud in bed last night.
Wreck jumpers is standard anspach/Cole military sci-fi with murderous aliens. Similar to galaxies edge stuff by the same writers
Currently reading Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski the last main book in the Witcher series
Listening to The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne the last book in the Bloodsworn Saga. Would highly recommend the series it is so good and compelling.
Traumnovelle. I randomly got reminded of the film “Eyes Wide Shut” and discovered it’s actually based on an Austrian story from the 1920s. I’ve been wanting to read more in German, so I figured why not?
It’s decently entertaining, and a nice little look into cultural assumptions in the 1920s, but I have to admit I’m excited to finish it and move on :).
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. Fantasy with a Native American mythos. It started great, then became a soap opera.
I read her first one and loved it. Haven’t read any more by her.
Dungeon Crawler Karl and The wandering inn.
Ill probably be done never.
Worth it?
For me yes!
I use both when I feel like walking. And DCC (https://soundbooththeater.com/) has replaced a lot of TV shows for my and my wife.
I’m reading The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett, one of his earlier novels. It’s an alt history mystery noir set in the 1920s. It’s super atmospheric and kinda reminds me of the show Severance. I’m less than a third of the way through but am hooked and absolutely loving it so far.
Robert Jackson Bennett comes up a lot, should really read something by him.
He just won a Higo award for The Tainted Cup, so that might be a good place to start!
Thanks, will take a look!
Started work after my vacation, so resumed listening to “Eye of the Bedlam bride” by Matt Dinniman. Almost 3/4th through, and it is great so far.
Also resumed reading last week. I was still reading “Rama II” by Arthur C Clarke and Lee Gentry, but I’ve just decided it goes into the pile of never finished books by me. I’m about half way through, and the characters get worse every page it seems. Also the pacing is way too slow.
Next book is “The worst ship in the fleet” by Skyler Ramirez. Judging by the reviews it gets on goodreads, it will be a hit or miss, so we’ll see I guess!
I just finished Roadside Picnic for the first time and dove into Robert Anton Wilson’s “Sex and Drugs”.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex,_Drugs_and_Magick
He talks about the difficulty in getting the book published in the early 70s:
"Playboy Press seems not to have published this book in the ordinary sense but to have released it on a need-to-know basis, or something of that sort. There were marvelous advance-of-publication blurbs from heavyweight figures like Alan Watts, William S. Burroughs and Timothy Leary; there were enthusiastic reviews in a dozen counter-culture newspapers and magazines; and then there was a stifled and prolonged silence, as if I had killed a cat in the sacristy. Every place I went to lecture or give seminars, people had heard of Sex and Drugs by word of mouth but complained that they were unable to find it in any bookstores. Very quickly, it went out of print. I have never earned a penny in royalties on it, which event I fully expect to reverse from the Falcon Press edition.
Even more curiously, as years passed and other books by me sold well and were reprinted regularly, no publisher was, for 13 years, willing to reprint Sex and Drugs. This has often puzzled me."
How did you like Roadside Picnic?
It was interesting. There were some narrative jumps that I couldn’t tell if there was a problem in translation or a problem with editing.
Apparently the OG book was heavily censored in Russia and this edition claims to have restored the original, but like I say, there are gaps.
The ending feels a little… unresolved.
