What Are You Reading, Part 2

[Dunkum he/him]

10 hours ago, Jondesu said:

Agreed. It's a reread for me, and it wasn't spectacular, but I watched the show (on MTV, so you know it wasn't great either) and it reminded me of some of the more interesting world building elements, like being set in the future of the United States, even though none of them know what the world was really like before.

jW

I didn't watch the show, but I remember seeing the trailers, and I will admit that the visuals in those were pretty good, including some of the rusted out pieces of the old world.  I still don't remember much of that fromSword though, except maybe the King of the Silver River and his "magic" flashlight

[Jondesu he/him]

6 hours ago, Sunbird said:

Just wanted to put in my endorsement for The Aeronaut's Windlass; it's my personal favorite of Jim Butcher's work.

I'm enjoying it so far, though he emphasizes the words for things that don't exist in our language too much for my liking.  I don't even know that I can describe it exactly, but in some books I feel pulled into the world by the descriptions, and in others I feel jarred every time they bring up a weird word because it feels forced.  This one leans a bit towards the latter, but not enough to make the book unenjoyable. There's a reason I didn't finish it during the 3 week loan originally and had to borrow it again, though.  It just wasn't quite engaging enough to make me pull it up instead of other books I was reading at the time.

jW

Edited October 10, 2016 by Jondesu

[Guest]

On 09/10/2016 at 7:40 PM, Jondesu said:

Just finished Red Rising and I'm trying to borrow Golden Sun. Also have The Sword of Shannara and The Aeronaut's Windlass, open, while The Lies of Locke Lamora, Cloud Atlas, and several Star Wars books (Revan, The Last Jedi, Crosscurrent, Riptide) are on the Kindle ready for me.

I also have the Suicide Squad volumes 4-5 to read (the "comics").

jW

Red Rising currently is my unexpected "love at fist read" book for a lack of better expression. I started reading this week-end and I am thoroughly enjoying this book, more so since I had absolutely no expectations for it. I picked it up at random as all of the other books I had on my list were "unavailable" while this one was. I had vaguely heard the name before, but I had no idea what it was about, I only knew it was more sci-fi than fantasy.

Spoiler

Still, even as I started reading it, I had no idea what I was reading. At first, I thought it'd be the story of the colonization of Mars together with a peasant's revolt, then I thought it'd be like the Reckoners featuring a lucky teenager being the new star of the team... I never expected the institute and the games... It caught me completely by surprise and I am really enjoying this.

I have no idea how it is going to end (I am two third in), but I really love to see how Darrow is adjusting and how seemingly peculiar it is for him to actually like the ones he is suppose to hate or so is my current reading. I also feel really sorry for Cassius: he was pinned as the loser on day one. They all did it on purpose... Julian, Darrow, they were both meant to prevent Cassius from winning. I think. So I feel sorry for him: the kid's just a puppet and they'll turn him into a monster if he keeps at it much longer.

Well, it's been a long time since I picked up a page turner. A very long time.

[Sunbird she/her]

Finished the last book in Jennifer Armentrout's Dark Elements trilogy and oh. THE FEELS. Another one for the short list of books that made me cry.

Starting Nightshades by Melissa F Olson soon.

[Who Sharded?]

15 hours ago, maxal said:

Red Rising currently is my unexpected "love at fist read" book for a lack of better expression. I started reading this week-end and I am thoroughly enjoying this book, more so since I had absolutely no expectations for it. I picked it up at random as all of the other books I had on my list were "unavailable" while this one was. I had vaguely heard the name before, but I had no idea what it was about, I only knew it was more sci-fi than fantasy.

  Reveal hidden contents

Still, even as I started reading it, I had no idea what I was reading. At first, I thought it'd be the story of the colonization of Mars together with a peasant's revolt, then I thought it'd be like the Reckoners featuring a lucky teenager being the new star of the team... I never expected the institute and the games... It caught me completely by surprise and I am really enjoying this.

I have no idea how it is going to end (I am two third in), but I really love to see how Darrow is adjusting and how seemingly peculiar it is for him to actually like the ones he is suppose to hate or so is my current reading. I also feel really sorry for Cassius: he was pinned as the loser on day one. They all did it on purpose... Julian, Darrow, they were both meant to prevent Cassius from winning. I think. So I feel sorry for him: the kid's just a puppet and they'll turn him into a monster if he keeps at it much longer.

Well, it's been a long time since I picked up a page turner. A very long time.

I didn't expect these books to be nearly as good as they were.  I thought the publisher was just trying to make money and cash in on the Hunger Games hype.  But they're some of the best page turners I've read.

[Left he/him]

Amen. 

The Red Rising trilogy are easily the best books I've read this year. 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Who Sharded? said:

I didn't expect these books to be nearly as good as they were.  I thought the publisher was just trying to make money and cash in on the Hunger Games hype.  But they're some of the best page turners I've read.

I had no idea it was supposed to be a "Hunger Games" rip off when I pickled it up. I sincerely expected some sort of inter-galactic battle which I wasn't sure I would enjoy. While Red Rising do share many common aspect with Hunger Games, the stories are irrevocably different.

I loved Hunger Games, but the story was much more simple, less political and only one viewpoint was presented. We never encountered anyone from the upper crust of society and the careers's districts remained the "evil" ones up until the end. No effort was made to humanize them or, at the very least, to present life as it would have been from their eyes.

Red Rising does much more. Through Darrow's experience, we do get to see both extremes of society and, just as it should be, things aren't so crystal clear.

Spoiler

 

Titus was a Red and yet he didn't have the upper hand when it comes to morality thus trampling the good old trope wanting the "low born" to always be "better at heart" than the "higher born". The character's inclusion also helps humanizing Darrow: he isn't so special anymore, he is just but one pet project the rebellion is entertaining. In a way, Darrow is a puppet too and a slave to his secret.

Also while Darrow is the hero and the main protagonist of the story, he isn't a "nice person". He goes above and beyond what was required by his "mission": he allowed others to die, he was ruthless and while he tried to be fair, I am still not sure if he is a "good guy" or not. He also spends the entire book trying to outplay the game only to shake hand with his enemy: there was no need to compromise his moral integrity, other apprenticeships were available to him. Sure, it may have been the mission, but he still more or less ruins the standpoint he tried to formally have. Perhaps he has other intentions, but his former army will now see him as the opportunist who shook hand with the cheater.

On the other side, Cassius whom is portrayed as the "evil one", placing himself as an antagonist to Darrow is the "nice guy". The one who doesn't want to win by being brutal, the one who questions if it was all worth it, the kid who cried his dead brother every night. Sure, Cassius betrays Darrow and launches a blood feud, but Darrow first broke the trust and the loyalty Cassius had put in him. The whole story has yet to pan out. House Augustus and House Bellona have been hitting each other for a while, what will come out of it, I am very curious. Will Darrow and his rebellion beat the system? Nothing is sure anymore...

Will Darrow allegiance falter as he becomes more and more entangled with the Gold? As he befriends them more and more, will he still be able to carry on the rebellion? These are questions I now have after reading book 1. After reading the first Hunger Game book, I merely wondered what the next book would be about. 

 

So in the end, the story was very interesting and it offers several elements which made it more than your average "teenagers are out to kill each other" story. I also love the fact they weren't supposed to kill anyone during the game, except at the passage.

Spoiler

Oh and they SO put Julian against Darrow on purpose...

 

 

 

[StormingTexan he/him]

^^ I can't wait to see your reaction  after you read the next book. I'm half way through the last book and still loving the series. 

[Sunbird she/her]

Raced through Nightshades all in one day because it was pretty awesome. Perhaps awesome enough that I'll want to write a review in the near future. I am angry at the cliffhanger, though.

Starting on my re-read of Alcatraz vs the Shattered Lens tomorrow.

[Who Sharded?]

Anyone here familiar with The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington?  Apparently Sanderson has recommended it to fans, and it gets compared to The Wheel of Time a lot.  No one talks about it on the other boards I go to, but it has good reviews so I was curious if anyone WoT/Sanderson fans here had read it.

[StormingTexan he/him]

21 minutes ago, Who Sharded? said:

Anyone here familiar with The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington?  Apparently Sanderson has recommended it to fans, and it gets compared to The Wheel of Time a lot.  No one talks about it on the other boards I go to, but it has good reviews so I was curious if anyone WoT/Sanderson fans here had read it.

Yes I loved it. Was actually thinking about a re-read soon. Only downside is I believe the next book is still a ways off. 

[Guest]

21 hours ago, StormingTexan said:

^^ I can't wait to see your reaction  after you read the next book. I'm half way through the last book and still loving the series. 

I have started Golden Son. Well, alright, I read one chapter  My thoughts for now:

Spoiler

I wonder how Karnus being a big blood thirsty brute is going to play out within the story. House Bellona has too many sons and I do worry for what it means in a world where the adage is "Cheat or be cheated". Are they going to start killing each other in order to claim their heirloom? How is it sitting for someone described as "mean" to have his little brother being named heir and not him?

I also wonder if house Augustus really is the evil one and I wonder if Nero's advice will come true... The one where he warns Darrow about the alliances he made at the Institute, about how meaningless they would end up being in the real world... Will Darrow end up being betrayed in a fight for power?

Is there any hope for Cassius, both as a character and as a person? Can he overcome his need for vengeance? I can't help but feeling sorry at seeing Darrow work with Rogue, the two individuals Cassius called "brothers". If someone was betrayed, so far, it was him. Can he turn his anger towards the right culprit or is he going to be true to this words to Darrow and try to kill him again?

So yeah, a very interesting book  Glad the trilogy is finished thought: I won't have to wait to read the ending.

[Magestar he/him]

Red Rising, as a whole, was very nice.  I have trouble finding books that suit my fancy, and this was excellent.  The Golden Son was... interesting.  You sort of have to read it for yourself.  There were a lot of things I did not expect, and while I was genuinely confused for the first half of the book, the end rounded out rather nicely, though it was unexpected.

I'm looking forwards to reading the third one.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Magestar said:

Red Rising, as a whole, was very nice.  I have trouble finding books that suit my fancy, and this was excellent.  The Golden Son was... interesting.  You sort of have to read it for yourself.  There were a lot of things I did not expect, and while I was genuinely confused for the first half of the book, the end rounded out rather nicely, though it was unexpected.

I'm looking forwards to reading the third one.

I have to admit, a few chapters into the book, it isn't panning out as I expected 

Spoiler

I was geared for the Augustus/Bellona blood feud to play out, but looks like Darrow is going somewhere else. I really wanted to read more about the Bellonas, so hopefully they'll be around.

So huh, suspense 

[Sunbird she/her]

Finally started The Dark Talent today! I totally lol'd at the reference to Arthur Dent's bathrobe/towel ensemble in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[Jondesu he/him]

18 hours ago, maxal said:

I have started Golden Son. Well, alright, I read one chapter 

Just got it myself, quite intrigued so far.  I'm a little farther in, but not that far yet.

I find it intriguing that while it's not at all part of the main plot, they've dropped a couple hints that they are very definitely in the future of the same universe as Ender's Game. They referenced Wiggin directly (comparing one of the characters to Alexander, Napoleon, and Wiggin, among others), and then someone was noted as using the holoNet, which is an Ender's Game term IIRC.  Pretty fun to see, and it's not the first book I've read that did that, though I don't recall what the other book was right now.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Jondesu

[averyp1017 she/her]

On 2/1/2011 at 3:39 PM, Silus - Shard of Flame said:

Ah, Shakespeare, if you can pick apart the metaphors it's actually pretty good reading and you realize just how dirty minded most of his stuff is.  I'd recommend getting a version that does that for you.  I did that for Romeo and Juliet and enjoyed it.

Romeo and Juliet for English and Wheel of Time for fun. I'll be looking for the metaphors

[Left he/him]

42 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

Just got it myself, quite intrigued so far.  I'm a little farther in, but not that far yet.

I find it intriguing that while it's not at all part of the main plot, they've dropped a couple hints that they are very definitely in the future of the same universe as Ender's Game. They referenced Wiggin directly (comparing one of the characters to Alexander, Napoleon, and Wiggin, among others), and then someone was noted as using the holoNet, which is an Ender's Game term IIRC.  Pretty fun to see, and it's not the first book I've read that did that, though I don't recall what the other book was right now.

I thought those were just references to the books, as like classic literature. 

[Jondesu he/him]

12 minutes ago, LeftVash said:

I thought those were just references to the books, as like classic literature. 

Nope, the way they came across to me was as legit references to the historical Wiggin (I could be wrong, but none of the others in the same list were fictional characters).  I just did a quick search, though, and holonet is a Star Wars term instead of Ender's Game, so the Wiggin mention is the only direct connection I've seen after all.

EDIT: the exact quote:

Quote

“So this kid is what? A predestined Alexander? A Caesar? A Genghis? A Wiggin?” I ask. “This is slagging nonsense.”

Edited October 14, 2016 by Jondesu

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Jondesu said:

Just got it myself, quite intrigued so far.  I'm a little farther in, but not that far yet.

I find it intriguing that while it's not at all part of the main plot, they've dropped a couple hints that they are very definitely in the future of the same universe as Ender's Game. They referenced Wiggin directly (comparing one of the characters to Alexander, Napoleon, and Wiggin, among others), and then someone was noted as using the holoNet, which is an Ender's Game term IIRC.  Pretty fun to see, and it's not the first book I've read that did that, though I don't recall what the other book was right now.

I am at chapter 7. The story hasn't picked up yet, so I am unsure what the main conflict will be yet. I rather loved the Darrow/Cassius friendship/rivalry/mortal enemy relationship throughout Red Rising, so I hope to read more. 

I never caught on Wiggins... Nice catch.

[Left he/him]

5 hours ago, Jondesu said:

Nope, the way they came across to me was as legit references to the historical Wiggin (I could be wrong, but none of the others in the same list were fictional characters).  I just did a quick search, though, and holonet is a Star Wars term instead of Ender's Game, so the Wiggin mention is the only direct connection I've seen after all.

EDIT: the exact quote:

The Red Rusing books are all limited to the solar system though, while the Enderverse is inherintly inter galactic. So while a Wiggin could have existed in the universe, they wouldn't have been quite like the ones in the Enderverse. 

 

On topic, I finished Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolf. The first half ish was good, but after that... it was like the Felurian section of A Wise Mans Fear... it just felt so pointless. 

Next up is either Heretics of Dune or Frank Herbert's biography. 

[Eki]

Finished Elantris! Read most of it while I was hungry, which was interesting.

Now I'm ready for Arcanum Unbounded!

[DSC01 he/him]

I'm finally reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I started Gardens of the Moon a couple of years ago, but I gave up because I was not getting into it at all. If memory serves, I tried reading it immediately after finishing The Wheel of Time for the second time (this being about five months after I finished reading it the first time). It was just the wrong time to try to get into the series, in every possible way.

Also, since my first attempt, I checked this out, and it gave me some context for the whole story. The first time I tried to read GotM, it was like, "Okay, there are a bunch of different characters that I don't like at all, and I have no idea what any of them are talking about, ever." Keep in mind, I read a good 400 pages of the book, that first time. I did give it a chance. It's just that the tone was all wrong for my headspace, coming out of a WoT reread, and having no clue what was happening really didn't help. I think I'm just past where I stopped on the first attempt, but really, I've been engaged from the start this time. 

[Andarist he/him]

8 hours ago, DSC01 said:

I'm finally reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I started Gardens of the Moon a couple of years ago, but I gave up because I was not getting into it at all. If memory serves, I tried reading it immediately after finishing The Wheel of Time for the second time (this being about five months after I finished reading it the first time). It was just the wrong time to try to get into the series, in every possible way.

Also, since my first attempt, I checked this out, and it gave me some context for the whole story. The first time I tried to read GotM, it was like, "Okay, there are a bunch of different characters that I don't like at all, and I have no idea what any of them are talking about, ever." Keep in mind, I read a good 400 pages of the book, that first time. I did give it a chance. It's just that the tone was all wrong for my headspace, coming out of a WoT reread, and having no clue what was happening really didn't help. I think I'm just past where I stopped on the first attempt, but really, I've been engaged from the start this time. 

Good for you! Malazan is an awesome ride. 

Just a tip - don't google stuff. There is a high chance you will get spoilers. 

[Guest]

I have a hefty problem... I am starting Part 3 of Golden Son, but I failed to book a reservation for Morning Star. I've just checked. It is available, but in another library. What are the odds it'd get deliver here before I finish Golden Son??? 

I have half a mind to either buy it and get it on Tuesday or drive to the said library to pick it up myself  Even if I have to bravely face hordes of orange cones and the world greatest most terrifying road work pit to get there  I mean, it is worth the drive, the stress, the impending hopelessness of driving through a real nightmare (seriously I live in a post-apocalyptic zone where every single bout of road is currently under-going massive transformation)?