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Posted
On 12/28/2017 at 11:06 AM, StormingTexan said:

Finished up the Southern Reach trilogy. I don't even know if I liked it. It is one of those unresolved endings you are supposed to make your own assumptions. It was very interesting and thought provoking with excellent prose but for sure not spoon feed to you left ultimately unresolved. I will say it was very unique.

I read the Southern Reach (Area X) trilogy a couple years back and started this thread here on the Shard about it: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/34790-southern-reach-area-x-trilogy-theories-spoilers/#comment-297001

My OP contains some theories about what happened in this weirdest-book-I-have-ever-read-and-am-glad-I-read-it-but-couldn't-tell-you-why. Would be interested to know your thoughts on my theories while the book is still kinda fresh in your mind. :)

Posted
10 hours ago, old aggie said:

weirdest-book-I-have-ever-read-and-am-glad-I-read-it-but-couldn't-tell-you-why

I have to completely agree with this assessment. I've read a lot of other peoples thoughts and while many are similar it seems like almost everyone came away with a little bit different take on it. I'll check out your thread! 

Posted

Rereading one of my favorite books, The Player of Games, by Banks. Even though I know how it ends I can't stop turning the page to experience the next scene. Definitely the best Culture novel because the pacing remains crisp throughout the entire book. Sometimes in other Culture books the author gets a little distracted. Also love the first section: 

"This is a story of a man who went far away to play a game. The man is a game-player called Gurgeh. The story starts with a battle that is not a battle, and ends with a game that is not a game. Me? I'll tell you about me later. This is how the story begins."

 

Posted
2 minutes ago, TheOrlionThatComesBefore said:

Currently reading Metro 2033 for a friend and after only 25 pages I want to ask him why he hates me so much. 

In return you should make him read Finnigans Wake by Joyce:lol:

(No offence to those who like either story)

Posted

About halfway through John Scalzi's Lock In, which I picked up after enjoying my first taste of his work, The Dispatcher.

Posted
6 hours ago, Sunbird said:

About halfway through John Scalzi's Lock In, which I picked up after enjoying my first taste of his work, The Dispatcher.

I liked Lock In. Reminds me I need to re-read it!

Posted

I finished Words Of Radiance at the weekend. (Overall, I really liked it. But Shallan isn't really my favourite character...)

Now I'm halfway through Edgedancer. If all goes well I finish it until Friday and can dive into Oathbriner. 

Posted

Um, I read a book a while back, but it was brought back to mind, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Tattoos on the Heart is the story of a... Catholic priest, I think? Anyway, he works with the gangsters in LA, and holy cow. This is a Mother Teresa kind of level love. Its absolutely heart wrenching, but also just wonderful. 

Posted

Finally finished reading the Star Wars book From a Certain Point of View. It was a fun, if long, read. It was neat seeing A New Hope from people who weren't Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, R2 and C3PO. The format changed between different stories so one would be a traditional 3rd person, the next would be a hilarious 1st person, then one done in the style of an incident report. There was even one done up like a Shakespearean monologue! Characters who don't even appear in the movie, like Yoda and Lando, get stories showing what they were doing during the movie!

I also liked how they make references to the other stuff (prequels, Clone Wars, Rebels, a subtle reference to Force Awakens and Last Jedi) but the stuff from Rogue One felt like it changed the motives of the Rebel POV characters too much since most were fighting because of the events on Scarif instead of other personal reasons and the destruction of Alderaan.

Anyway I'm going to head back into Way of Kings tomorrow and finish reading that monster of a paperback.

Posted
18 hours ago, Briar King said:

Not sure if anyone knows yet but the Earthsea aurthor Ursula Leguin died today age 88. Never read her but she was a fantasy icon for millions.

Fantasy and Sci Fi.  I highly recommend her to anyone interested in either genre.

Posted
36 minutes ago, StormingTexan said:

Has anyone read Iron Gold yet? How did it stack up to the original trilogy (which I loved)? 

I'm about 1/3 of the way through.  It's different.  Since there are 4 POVs with equal screen time, the plot naturally moves more slowly than the original trilogy.  It's very good but I definitely feel like I'm still in the set up phase.  In fact I've seen reviews say that the whole book is like set up for book 2.  But there is a lot of potential here.

Posted
1 hour ago, StormingTexan said:

Has anyone read Iron Gold yet? How did it stack up to the original trilogy (which I loved)? 

Almost done; I should finish it by tomorrow. I think it is a deeper, more thoughtful book than the original trilogy. I also think his prose has gotten better with each novel. He introduces three new points of view so it feels a little disjointed at first, but it really comes together. Overall I am very happy with it. It is much better than the original Red Rising book and at least on par with Golden Sun and Morning Star. 

Posted
3 hours ago, Ammanas said:

Almost done; I should finish it by tomorrow. I think it is a deeper, more thoughtful book than the original trilogy. I also think his prose has gotten better with each novel. He introduces three new points of view so it feels a little disjointed at first, but it really comes together. Overall I am very happy with it. It is much better than the original Red Rising book and at least on par with Golden Sun and Morning Star. 

Good to know. I had it onto my reading list since I really loved the first trilogy, but first, I am finishing my French fantasy book, then I am jumping into Ready Player One.

Posted

@maxal Ready Player One is a absolute blast! It's one of those books that if you wanted to be critical about it I could list several problems with it, but its just so much fun I really don't care about the flaws and just enjoy the ride!

Posted

I actually read Ready player one last week becuase I got stuck with my WoT read. I finished The Dragon Reborn and had to order the next book. It was awesome. I'm still waiting for it, so I took the first book in The First Law trilogy for the weekend. I've tried to read it a while back but got bored by it, so I hope that's changed :lol:

Posted

Keep trying with the First Law.  I was mostly bored by the first book as well, but with the second book it became way more entertaining.  I can't think of anyone who writes more entertaining group banter than Abercrombie does.

Posted

I love RPO! It’s one of the handful of books I re-read when I want something that’s just fun.

I have also struggled with The First Law. I tried a couple times before finally getting through the first book and then didn’t feel compelled to continue. I feel like I should like it. The characters are interesting but something just doesn’t click with me. 

On an earlier post I remembered Lock In and decided to do a quick re-read. From the comments above I will read Iron Gold next. Was a little hesitant because I’ve seen some mixed reactions but the first there books and comments above are persuading me to give the author the bennifit of the doubt.  

Posted
20 minutes ago, StormingTexan said:

Was a little hesitant because I’ve seen some mixed reactions but the first there books 

I think people were expecting more of the initial trilogy and Pierce Brown is trying something different  (which I applaud him for). My wife also says that the book ends in a cliff hanger, but this author has been very dependable with releasing his books quickly (The next one has a tentative date of September of this year). If anyone wants to give the audiobooks a try I really liked three of the narrators from the beginning (and yes the kept on Reynold from the first three books). The narrator for the female point of view really annoyed me at first, but either she improved or the voice grew on me so I ended up enjoying it halfway or so through the book and onward. 

Posted
17 hours ago, Ammanas said:

@maxal Ready Player One is a absolute blast! It's one of those books that if you wanted to be critical about it I could list several problems with it, but its just so much fun I really don't care about the flaws and just enjoy the ride!

Good to know, I've been looking for an easy to read light amusing book.

7 hours ago, Who Sharded? said:

Keep trying with the First Law.  I was mostly bored by the first book as well, but with the second book it became way more entertaining.  I can't think of anyone who writes more entertaining group banter than Abercrombie does.

I dropped the series after the second book. While it was much better than the first one, it still failed to present characters I actually enjoyed reading. I never bothered with the third book, I guess I'll eventually read it.

Posted

I have started reading Ready Player One.

On Saturday mornings, my kids have ski lessons, but this week my husband and I decided it wasn't worth both of us paying for an entry tickets as my son doesn't ski long enough yet. Thus, this morning, instead of hitting the slopes, I hit the Starbucks with my book :ph34r: And OMG, I got so wrapped up in my book I forgot to go pick up my daughter at the end of her lesson :ph34r: She eventually burst into the Starbucks yelling: "Mom there you are, you forgot to pick me up, I had to wait FIVE whole minutes" and proceeded to yell even louder: "Dad, I found her, she's in there.".

:ph34r::ph34r::ph34r:

So huh now my moment of speculative theory of the day...

Spoiler

The Copper key is hidden into the Lupus world. Halliday grew up in a low middle working class slightly dysfunctional family: he'd not want the first key to be hidden into a faraway world only the right and the wealthy can have access to. He'd have hidden it where any kid from any social class could find it. I got to the riddle part and the "you have much to learn" quote definitely makes me think I am right.

So let's keep on reading :D

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