Book Thread number ?

[Craig P.]

Re: Book Thread number ?

It felt like Simmons thought he had to take every aspect of any great quest Fantasy or Scifi novel and jam it into the story whether it advanced the plot or not.

When it's all said and done (after all four novels), I think it's fairly certain that there's very little that doesn't either help to fill out the universe of the stories or advance the plot (and the universe that the plot takes place in is essential to that plot, and to the philosophical questions it raises). I can't argue with you about the paint-by-numbers thing, though... it's something that's certain to be a personal reaction to the story that you either have or you don't. You did, I didn't.

At any rate I certainly would not have it in the top 25 SciFi novels of all time. Certainly not with the likes of Dune, Ender's Game, The Forever War, etc.

YMMV, obviously. I haven't read Forever War, but I think I'd put the Hyperion pair (Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion) ahead of Dune and Ender's Game. Hyperion alone does a masterful job of laying out the world and the rules of the game, but it's only half the story.

[MattS]

Re: Book Thread number ?

YMMV, obviously. I haven't read Forever War, but I think I'd put the Hyperion pair (Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion) ahead of Dune and Ender's Game. Hyperion alone does a masterful job of laying out the world and the rules of the game, but it's only half the story.

Blasphmy!! I would find it impossible to put any SciFi book above Dune.

If you are a SciFi fan then you should read The Forever War. It is very good (I wonder if Hyperion doesn't take a lot of the time lag story ideas from this book). Once you have read The Forever War then move on to Starship Troopers if you haven't read that. (Very, very, very, very different from the crappy movie). They contrast each other in an excellent way.

[Craig P.]

Re: Book Thread number ?

I have read Starship Troopers, and I enjoyed it. I thought it was an interesting thought experiment, albeit one that would almost certainly be impractical in the real world due to problems that Heinlein handwaved away.

[MattS]

Re: Book Thread number ?

I have read Starship Troopers, and I enjoyed it. I thought it was an interesting thought experiment, albeit one that would almost certainly be impractical in the real world due to problems that Heinlein handwaved away.

True enough.

Now definitely read The Forever War. The way the books contrast each other is excellent. It's a pretty quick easy read.

At one time these two books were "required" reading for Marine officers. I don't know if that is true anymore. Probably not.

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Book Thread number ?

I recently started Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, since I spent many hours packed on airplanes today I had time to get into it. I'm about 200 pages in and so far I enjoy it. Still have 800 pages to go though.

[St. Clown]

Re: Book Thread number ?

I do most of my reading on the bus, and therefore take a while to read books. It certainly doesn't help that the rebuilt I-35W makes traffic go much faster now, too.

At any rate, I'm almost done with the Bourne Identity. This is one of the few times I'll say it - the movie was better. The book's not bad, but there are just some truly implausible things going on in the book that I don't like. How Bourne ends up with the Marie St. Claire woman in the book is beyond ludicrous. Actually, that's my biggest complaint on the book. The other part is the drawn out pace to the story. While it's a quick read, there's just too much of the woe-is-me factor coming from Bourne.

[The Rube]

Re: Book Thread number ?

I recently started Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, since I spent many hours packed on airplanes today I had time to get into it. I'm about 200 pages in and so far I enjoy it. Still have 800 pages to go though.

I have found that airport reading is quite the worthwhile activity. I've upped my flying activity in the last few years, and you can plow through a book or two at the least on a round trip.

That being said, I expect to be finished with the Kerry Fraser book, the Lincoln assassination book, and probably the Motley Crue biography by the time my next flying venture happens. Any suggestions for a book or two? I'd ask for suggestions that fall under the following, in general:

1. Non-fiction
2. Not necessarily biography/auto-biography; Ken Dryden's "The Game" and Fraser's book are more anecdotal, telling stories about their career/views on the sport they were a part of. However, I have fully enjoyed Rebecca Lobo's/Bob Probert's/Jim Kelly's autobiographies, and love mob novels (Wiseguy, Gotti: Rise and Fall).
3. Political events, domestic and foreign. Some examples may include the Bolshevik Revolution, dynasties of China, presidential...situations (except JFK, that's overdone, IMO), etc.

Non-fiction is pretty much required. I don't enjoy fiction that much at all. I prefer movies for that.

[Craig P.]

Re: Book Thread number ?

I have found that airport reading is quite the worthwhile activity. I've upped my flying activity in the last few years, and you can plow through a book or two at the least on a round trip.

These days, the exclusive genesis of my reading is air travel. I've lived an airplane trip away from my parents for the last thirteen years and I'm a fast reader, so that still means I read quite a few books in a year. And sometimes, as with Monk's Beckstrom books or a recent re-reading of Endymion and Rise of Endymion, I'll get started reading something in transit and finish it after I get home.

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Book Thread number ?

I have found that airport reading is quite the worthwhile activity. I've upped my flying activity in the last few years, and you can plow through a book or two at the least on a round trip.

For my early morning flights, of which I usually have one, I only read about 10 pages before I decide to take a quick nap. For flights during the day I usually read straight through unless there is a piece of **** baby (which should be banned from airplanes) crying its annoying little *** off, then I put the book away and listen to music. Some books I fly through fast enough to get one done on a round trip flight, but books like I'm reading now, with many characters and several interlocking stories that 1000 pages long, that doesn't work out too well.

No suggestions for you. I very rarely read non-fiction.

[The Rube]

Re: Book Thread number ?

If it's a morning flight, I gotta read my newspaper, then delve into a book. Even if the book is complex (the first book that got me back into reading was "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman; great book), I plow right through it. I'm a fast reader, and still retain everything. I think the Gaiman book I got through during a RT to CO Springs.

I guess most fiction I prefer to take in visually. I liked the Gaiman book because he referred to quite a few places I've seen, so I could visualize what he was talking about (most notably The House On The Rock). If you hadn't been there, I don't think you could really feel the surroundings and such. Of course, since then, I haven't picked up a fiction book, but oh well.

[Scarlet]

Re: Book Thread number ?

Does anyone here have a Kindle? My friend gave me hers when she bought the newer one. I really like it, especially for travel. I was looking to download the Harry Potter series but it doesn't appear to be available for the Kindle.

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Book Thread number ?

If I have to be on a flight by 6AM, like it seems I always have to, that means I have to be upby about 3:30. By the time I actually get on the plane I just need to close my eyes for a while, even if I can't actually sleep.

[The Rube]

Re: Book Thread number ?

If I have to be on a flight by 6AM, like it seems I always have to, that means I have to be upby about 3:30. By the time I actually get on the plane I just need to close my eyes for a while, even if I can't actually sleep.

No way I can do that. Even on the 7am flight back from Vegas, and getting to my hotel room after arriving there at 4am, after a 3-day full-out Bender Vacation, could I do that.

And Scarlet, I've heard good things about Kindle, but if I'm reading a novel, I like the feel of a book. It's kinda like the whole vinyl argument in music. It just feels right.

[goldy_331]

Re: Book Thread number ?

Does anyone here have a Kindle? My friend gave me hers when she bought the newer one. I really like it, especially for travel. I was looking to download the Harry Potter series but it doesn't appear to be available for the Kindle.

I think it would annoy me to be in the middle of reading and have to shut down for take-off. I'd rather have a paperback for that - I keep reading while folks all around me are shutting down and trying to kill time while we sit on the tarmac waiting to de-ice, or for our turn to take-off.

[Kepler]

Re: Book Thread number ?

Gangs of New York, the 1928 book that was the basis of the (by turns, awesome and awful) movie. Having said that, forget the movie completely. This is a sort of compendium of police reports from the 1790's through the 1890's of street gangs, political machines, prostitution rings, gambling houses, dance halls, and pretty much every kind of vice imaginable in Manhattan. It's GREAT! The best possible descriptive word for the style is "lurid."