The Book Thread

[Bedrockbrendan]

I don't recall it getting any hatred, not even from the various puppy factions, same with Three Body Problem, which I haven't bothered to track down yet, seeing as my reading has dropped way off from what it was a decade or so ago.  Was a time where finding me without a book in my hands or on my person was near impossible...

When it got the award, I think there was some negativity from the puppy thing as I recall.

[Headless]

I read the 3 body problem.  I don't remember a puppy.

I have the dark forest?  The next book kicking around but I haven't read it.  3 body was well written but poorly translated.  I think.  Its hrad for me to be sure since I don't read Chinese (either one) but I remember thinking the prose was clunky and dull in a couple spots.

[Voros]

Reading The House of Government by Yuri Slezkine, a very Russian sprawling history that draws on literature, memoirs and government documents to tell the story of an apartment block where many of the major Bolsheviks lived during the early years of the Revolution until their eventual dispossesion, exile or death under Lenin and Stalin.

Perhaps unlikely gaming material but I know there are a few CoC supplements set during the era and Night Witches by Morningstar and it seems there is some potential in playing the pre-revolutionary dissidents plotting against the Tzar, the Reds and the Whites during the Civil War or a Menshevik or true believer trying to flee and survive the purges.

[Headless]

Anyone read "the sand pebbles"?  Its about the chinese revolution if I recall.  

Actully come to think of it "three body problem" was too.  Of my sample 100% of the books related to china are about the revolution.

[Voros]

I'm familiar with the film version of The Sand Pebbles but haven't read the book, is it good. The novel is written by Richard McKenna who wrote some very important sf short stories in the 50s, Hunter Come Home and Fiddlers Green are terrific.

[Headless]

Couldn't tell you if it was good.  I read it when I was a teen ager and read everything good and bad with out knowing the difference.

[Dumarest]

Re-reading Andre Norton's Solar Queen books and Poul Anderson's Van Rijn stories in advance of possibly  playing  Traveller, if anybody wants to talk about those.

[Dumarest]

Couldn't tell you if it was good.  I read it when I was a teen ager and read everything good and bad with out knowing the difference.

My experience tends to be stuff I didn't care for then I have discovered is better than I knew due to my lack of experience and/or maturity. But some stuff was just crap and I knew it...never finished most of those books as it was clear within the first hundred pages.

[jeff37923]

Finished Andy Weir's new book, Artemis. Great solid character driven hard science fiction. The book is a steal at twice the price.

[Omega]

Finally getting back to reading Tom Wham's novel for Iron Dragons. You can about see where Estes writing cuts off in around the first chapter and Wham takes over. Interesting setting that could have made for a fun RPG campaign. And it wouldnt be too hard to integrate the board game into say D&D or such.

One of these days I'll actually get around to reading all these Drizzt books a player handed off to me out of the blue. Or at least the first three which seem to get talked about the most.

[Dumarest]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2006[/ATTACH]
Reading a nicely illustrated Hobbit adaptation someone gave me...so much better than the movies, no sex-dwarf leather fetishist costumes is always a plus.

[kosmos1214]

Note this is not the book I said I was about A 3rd of the way threw earlier in the thread my real life got in the way and I ended up picking this up in the mean time but I am still chipping away at the other got 40 pages read just the other day.

The fallowing is A short review for the book Ready Player One.

Let me start by saying this book is A true joy to read and fast at that the language is simple but descriptive and never wanting.
The book opens with the main character explaining how he would like to set the record straight and starts at the beginning of his tail explaining where he was when he first heard of the death of one James Haliday and the message he left explaining that he was leaving his entire fortune to whom ever could find an Easter egg he had hidden in his most popular game the oasis. The oasis we find out is A sort of MMO social network high-bread that is so tied in to modern day to day life you real life survival can be effected by things that happen to you in the game. Then we learn it has been 5 years and that no one has found any thing. Now that is as far as I dare take the plot but this book is full of geeky references and pop culture and should be especially enjoyable for any one who frequents this thread. Every thing from dnd to star wars ,star trek and 80s movies get A mention. But what truly makes this book stand out is how it manages to take what would be A simple action adventure story some thing we have seen dozens of times before and make it A human story A people story. A story that meany A geek and non geek alike can relate to.
One late thing before I go is that If you are the type of person who likes to try and figure out the puzzles of A book before they are relieved this book does A good job at giving ample time to let you figure it all out on your own.
Actually on that note I would be A pretty good base line of the level of knowledge required to beat the book to the answers for any of you who may be wondering.

[Bedrockbrendan]

I have been doing the Condor Heroes trilogy again. They put out a new official translation of the first volume of Legend of Condor Heroes (which is the basis of the Brave Archer Movies), and I read a copy of it. I liked the translation, but they did make some odd choices with character names that I think will upset people. This prompted me to re-read Return of Condor Heroes (which doesn't have an official translation so I am reading a fan translation). Just finished the first volume and it is actually more entertaining on a re-read because I am able to take my time and pay more attention to the martial arts techniques and the way things are being planted for upcoming events in the plot. Also noticing more details.

Definitely recommend it if people like wuxia or kung fu. The Return of Condor Heroes is actually where the story for One Armed Swordsman comes from, and it is kind of a romantic take on the genre. There is also lots, and lots of stuff that is highly gameable. The sect that the protagonist, Yang Guo, belongs to is Ancient Tomb Sect, and he lives in this underground structure with his sifu, Xioalongnu. One of the interesting things about the book is Yang Guo is the son of one of the villains from Legends of Condor Heroes. And it is fun to watch the events from the first book carry over to another character, who reacts to them in a very different way than the protagonist from the first book, Guo Jing. So you'll have a character who might have been a serious villain in the first book, end up being the adopted Father of Yang Guo. The book is filled with colorful characters (like unbelievably stark and colorful), family drama, and amazing kung fu battles (some of which last a rather long time). It also connects to history in a way that doesn't feel jarring. It is set during the Song period as they Mongols are invading and taking over territory. And the whole story is one long saga that crosses multiple generations of characters.

[Wooster]

I recently stared Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings. It's the first book in his 10-part series, The Stormlight Archive.

I've never dived into a fantasy series before and am enjoying it. The first book is about 1,200+ pages, and the sequels are only getting longer. However, the world building and character developments are well written.

Has anyone else read these books?

[Headless]

The only Sanderson I've read is the last 3 books of Wheel of Time.  It was pretty good but not Robert Jordan.  There were parts where I could see him (Sanderson) thinking, this book has already buried one author and it's not getting me, plot threads tied up!