just got the traditional birthday Barnes & Noble gift card. Think that is going towards Doctor Sleep the new Stephen King book. Sequel to The Shining that poses the question, "What does Danny Torrence grow up to be like?".
About a quarter of the way through that at the moment. So far so good!
Also finished King's Joyland A couple weeks ago. Now that was a real delight. A really great coming of age story with the traditional 'King' slant. Great stuff.
Before that was George RR Martins A Feast For Crows. Continues to be a wonderful series. Only downer is I've only got one more to go until I'm waiting for the new one like everyone else.
And also managed to fit in Dan Browns Inferno. Standard fare from Brown. Easy read. Made me want to go to Florence though.
Been a busy couple of months on the reading side of things for me.
Glad to hear Joyland was good. I was a little hesitant to pick that one up because it was one of the Hard Case Crime series like Colorado Kid. I read Kid but it wasn't one of my favorites. I started 'Salem's Lot as a fill in book until I could pick up Doctor Sleep and now I'm far enought in that i have to finish it. Hope to start Sleep next week sometime.
Yeah I wasn't a fan of kid either. Seemed a little all over the place to me, a bit rushed maybe. But Joyland was a real gem.
Salems Lot is a good one too. I have the version with a couple of related short stories in too. One was very Lovecraftian which is alway good, although I forget what it's actually called now.
Wrapped up Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. Overall, I really enjoyed it. though there were places in the series where his word choices for pieces of the dialog took me completely out of the story. In general it was a pretty cool world with a completely different magic system. Not really a particularly happy place, but if it were, there probably wouldn't have been much of a story.
Now working on CJ Cherryh's Intruder, the latest paperback offering in Cherryh's Foreigner series. Cherryh is a favorite of mine from the hard-ish SF genre. I think that she does a particularly terrific job of exploring radically different cultures and does a wonderful job of blending other genres into her work - Foreigner, for example is as much political thriller as it is SF, but it works on both levels.
Finished American Gods last night (having been interrupted by reading Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire & Ice). I thought some of it was interesting... but it kind of lost me about 70% of the way in. Just wasn't my thing.
Just getting rolling on Doctor Sleep and there is a reference to Joe Hill's NOS4A2 that made me squee a little bit. If I were to suddenly discover that Joe Hill was not actually King's son but was in fact the brain of King transplanted into a clone body. I would absolutely believe it. It's been what? 15 years since we cloned Dolly the sheep? Some mad scientist bastard out there is cloning people. King is sufficiently rich. Isn't that what all the vampires do? Bequeath themselves their very own fortune and live on as their own progeny? Yup. Hill is a clone and I don't care.
@random73 what are Joe Hill's books like? I've read loads of King, but never any of Hill's. Any must reads from him?
3/4's through Doctor Sleep and loving it.
Joe Hill is totally solid. He has all the talet of his dad but is less prone to have the diareaah of the word processor. I think he is a little tighter in his construction. occasionally though he will turn a phrase that is so much like King it makes me think Steve has grown himself a clone and transplanted his own brain into a younger body. if you like King you will like Hill. 20th Century Ghosts in a short sory collection, Heart Shaped Box was his first novel followed by Horns and now NOS4A2.
also, since this IS a comic forum. If you havn't read Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez you are in for a treat because it is fantastic! Highest possible recommendation.
Horns, by Joe Hill. AWESOME book...so far anyhow...
I need to read Horns. Bought it earlier this year. But it is in the huge stack of unread books. I also own 20th century Ghosts. But need to read it also. Heart Shaped Box was great. Read it before I know who Hill's father is.
Thanks all! Another reason why I love these forums!
I've since gone and ordered NOS 4A2. So that's now on my to be read pile. I'll probably end up going and picking up his backlist at some point too.
I've read the first issue of Locke and Key and enjoyed it. It's another one of those on the list for me to pick up. It's all down to time and money. It is a book i want to get too sooner or later though.
Thanks all! Another reason why I love these forums!
I've since gone and ordered NOS 4A2. So that's now on my to be read pile. I'll probably end up going and picking up his backlist at some point too.
I've read the first issue of Locke and Key and enjoyed it. It's another one of those on the list for me to pick up. It's all down to time and money. It is a book i want to get too sooner or later though.
If you have a Dollar General near you check it. All the ones in my area have the hardcover of Horns for $3.
Thanks all! Another reason why I love these forums!
I've since gone and ordered NOS 4A2. So that's now on my to be read pile. I'll probably end up going and picking up his backlist at some point too.
I've read the first issue of Locke and Key and enjoyed it. It's another one of those on the list for me to pick up. It's all down to time and money. It is a book i want to get too sooner or later though.
If you have a Dollar General near you check it. All the ones in my area have the hardcover of Horns for $3.
Unfortunately the nearest one of those is about 3500 miles away :( I'm a UK member of the CGS gang. That would have been a bargain though!
Thanks all! Another reason why I love these forums!
I've since gone and ordered NOS 4A2. So that's now on my to be read pile. I'll probably end up going and picking up his backlist at some point too.
I've read the first issue of Locke and Key and enjoyed it. It's another one of those on the list for me to pick up. It's all down to time and money. It is a book i want to get too sooner or later though.
If you have a Dollar General near you check it. All the ones in my area have the hardcover of Horns for $3.
Unfortunately the nearest one of those is about 3500 miles away :( I'm a UK member of the CGS gang. That would have been a bargain though!
I loved the old Infocom games. I have a boxed set of them, but they're now about four or five operating systems out of date.
Late getting to this thread, but I just have to say those old infocom games would be perfect to play on your phone now. If only someone could get that organised.
I loved the old Infocom games. I have a boxed set of them, but they're now about four or five operating systems out of date.
Late getting to this thread, but I just have to say those old infocom games would be perfect to play on your phone now. If only someone could get that organised.
I can't find the bookmark anywhere, but there is a website with most of those games, and supposedly they could be played on tablets and such. I visited the site a few times, but always had trouble getting the games to work.
A quick Google search of "infocom games download" brought up some sites, but they all seem to require downloading additional software to use the programs on a PC.
I loved the old Infocom games. I have a boxed set of them, but they're now about four or five operating systems out of date.
Late getting to this thread, but I just have to say those old infocom games would be perfect to play on your phone now. If only someone could get that organised.
There is a version of Zork for the smartphones, called Frobozz, but I'm not sure if its connected with Zork so much as its connected to the earlier game that Zork was based on.
I loved the old Infocom games. I have a boxed set of them, but they're now about four or five operating systems out of date.
Late getting to this thread, but I just have to say those old infocom games would be perfect to play on your phone now. If only someone could get that organised.
I can't find the bookmark anywhere, but there is a website with most of those games, and supposedly they could be played on tablets and such. I visited the site a few times, but always had trouble getting the games to work.
A quick Google search of "infocom games download" brought up some sites, but they all seem to require downloading additional software to use the programs on a PC.
I loved the old Infocom games. I have a boxed set of them, but they're now about four or five operating systems out of date.
Late getting to this thread, but I just have to say those old infocom games would be perfect to play on your phone now. If only someone could get that organised.
I can't find the bookmark anywhere, but there is a website with most of those games, and supposedly they could be played on tablets and such. I visited the site a few times, but always had trouble getting the games to work.
A quick Google search of "infocom games download" brought up some sites, but they all seem to require downloading additional software to use the programs on a PC.
Good Old Games.
gog.com
Not the one I was thinking of (that one was a plain text page for a website, and the games were free), but that site looks more legit and easier to use.
Just finished Ender's Game. I was... somewhat let down. Are the other books in the series better or worse?
I'd first read the book back around when it was first released. My best friend had been raving about it, so I checked it out; I agreed with him that it was pretty darn good. It also had some prescient looks at how the internet and gaming would look in the future -- that being today. I read the later books and thought they were equally good.
However, I won't be going to the movie when it's released.
Just finished Ender's Game. I was... somewhat let down. Are the other books in the series better or worse?
It depends on what let you down with the book. The Shadow books and the Ender books take different paths. They explore similar themes as well as different themes. The Shadow books explore the ethics of genetics, for instance, while the Ender books go more into species interaction and survival. Each book has a similar tone and writing style, but while one revolves around global politics, another deals more with solving a scientific mystery. You won’t be reading the same story over and over in other words.
I haven’t read every book in the series—only six or seven of them—but I’ve enjoyed them all to varying degrees.
Just finished Ender's Game. I was... somewhat let down. Are the other books in the series better or worse?
It depends on what let you down with the book.
Maybe it's just me, but I felt that much of the book was repetitive. I didn't care much for the character of Ender. And what was supposed to be the climactic scene left me thinking "What? That's it?!!"
I didn't hate the book, but perhaps my expectations were too high.
Just finished Ender's Game. I was... somewhat let down. Are the other books in the series better or worse?
It depends on what let you down with the book.
Maybe it's just me, but I felt that much of the book was repetitive. I didn't care much for the character of Ender. And what was supposed to be the climactic scene left me thinking "What? That's it?!!"
I didn't hate the book, but perhaps my expectations were too high.
I didn’t find it repetitive in a bad way, but I can see where you might think it was. Military training is all about repetition, so I think that was somewhat intentional on Card’s part. And it’s somewhat difficult to relate to any of these characters, but I don’t think you’re really supposed to. That’s kind of the thrust of the book, is that Ender and the rest of the kids are very different from the average person. Ender’s ties to his family is really the only part of him we can truly empathize with in Ender’s Game. I think he becomes much more likeable and relatable over the course of the series.
As for the climactic scene, how it plays out is very important in Speaker for the Dead, the next book.
Just finished Ender's Game. I was... somewhat let down. Are the other books in the series better or worse?
Different. The rest of Ender's story deals with him largely as an adult and consequently they are a little different in tone. Some people who really loved the first one struggle with Speaker for the Dead. It has a much larger scale compared to the laser focus on battle school in Ender. Speaker is much more concerned with ethics, politics and the fallout from decisions made in Ender's Game.However, if you can shift gears long enough to get into Speaker I think it is worth it. Xenocide as well.
The Shadow books focus on Bean and cover the same time span from a different point if view. I found those less satisfying. I read them all but...they felt like Douglas Adams Mostly Harmless. The old Hitchhickers guide magic wasn't there for me.
Comments
Salems Lot is a good one too. I have the version with a couple of related short stories in too. One was very Lovecraftian which is alway good, although I forget what it's actually called now.
Now working on CJ Cherryh's Intruder, the latest paperback offering in Cherryh's Foreigner series. Cherryh is a favorite of mine from the hard-ish SF genre. I think that she does a particularly terrific job of exploring radically different cultures and does a wonderful job of blending other genres into her work - Foreigner, for example is as much political thriller as it is SF, but it works on both levels.
3/4's through Doctor Sleep and loving it.
I've since gone and ordered NOS 4A2. So that's now on my to be read pile. I'll probably end up going and picking up his backlist at some point too.
I've read the first issue of Locke and Key and enjoyed it. It's another one of those on the list for me to pick up. It's all down to time and money. It is a book i want to get too sooner or later though.
Oh man I forgot you were in the UK.
A quick Google search of "infocom games download" brought up some sites, but they all seem to require downloading additional software to use the programs on a PC.
gog.com
However, I won't be going to the movie when it's released.
I haven’t read every book in the series—only six or seven of them—but I’ve enjoyed them all to varying degrees.
I didn't hate the book, but perhaps my expectations were too high.
As for the climactic scene, how it plays out is very important in Speaker for the Dead, the next book.
The Shadow books focus on Bean and cover the same time span from a different point if view. I found those less satisfying. I read them all but...they felt like Douglas Adams Mostly Harmless. The old Hitchhickers guide magic wasn't there for me.