Author Topic: What book(s) are you reading? (Read 683909 times)

Eric P · « **Reply #1080 on:** September 03, 2011, 06:52:37 AM »

really?

TO THE INTERNETS!

Eric P · « **Reply #1081 on:** September 03, 2011, 06:55:05 AM »

I'm also reading this adaptation of the first Modesty Blaise book by Patrick O'Donnell and Dick Giordano. Great art, horrible adaptive writing. Lots of explanations of what we're seeing plainly in the panel. But the art and visual storytelling is just gorgeous.

Dickie Dee · « **Reply #1082 on:** September 03, 2011, 09:22:21 AM »

Anybody read the newer Dan Simmons books Black Hill or Flashback? Honestly both premises are uninteresting to me but I want to check them out because he always deliverys.

Eric P · « **Reply #1083 on:** September 03, 2011, 09:36:15 AM »

ha ha. yeah, flashback is glen beck porn.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-flashback-by-dan-simmons/2011/07/19/gIQA62F6lI_story.html

Quote

Dan Simmons’s “Flashback” is an abundantly entertaining, often outrageous right-wing fantasy about a weak, broken United States 20-odd years from now. The country is ruled over by the Japanese, lives in fear of the Islamic Global Caliphate, and its citizens mostly spend their time stoned on a drug called flashback that lets them escape to a better past. Some of the events that have occurred between now and the early 2030s can be summed up thusly:

U.S. Goes Bankrupt

Israel Destroyed by Nuclear Attack

Mexican Army Invades California

Sharia Law Rules Europe, Canada

Giant Mosque Built at Ground Zero

U.S. Down to 44½ States

There’s more, but you get the idea. And if you haven’t guessed, the blame for almost all these disasters lies with the fellow who was elected president of the United States in 2008.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #1084 on:** September 03, 2011, 09:51:04 AM »

Quote from: Cormacaroni on September 03, 2011, 05:10:53 AM

Supergods is best read in short chunks, I think. It's very episodic in nature.

Thanks for the tip- maybe ill read it while reading something else then; chapter at a time.

chronovore · « **Reply #1085 on:** September 03, 2011, 11:12:58 AM »

I think if I read that book, I would become your namesake.

Caliphate? Really? There is not enough smh.

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #1086 on:** September 03, 2011, 02:57:48 PM »

Quote from: Eric P on September 03, 2011, 09:36:15 AM

ha ha. yeah, flashback is glen beck porn.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-flashback-by-dan-simmons/2011/07/19/gIQA62F6lI_story.html

Quote
Dan Simmons’s “Flashback” is an abundantly entertaining, often outrageous right-wing fantasy about a weak, broken United States 20-odd years from now. The country is ruled over by the Japanese, lives in fear of the Islamic Global Caliphate, and its citizens mostly spend their time stoned on a drug called flashback that lets them escape to a better past. Some of the events that have occurred between now and the early 2030s can be summed up thusly:

U.S. Goes Bankrupt

Israel Destroyed by Nuclear Attack

Mexican Army Invades California

Sharia Law Rules Europe, Canada

Giant Mosque Built at Ground Zero

U.S. Down to 44½ States

There’s more, but you get the idea. And if you haven’t guessed, the blame for almost all these disasters lies with the fellow who was elected president of the United States in 2008.

Sounds like the best novel written since Michael Crichton's State of Fear.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #1087 on:** September 03, 2011, 04:26:06 PM »

Quote from: chronovore on September 03, 2011, 11:12:58 AM

I think if I read that book, I would become your namesake.

Caliphate? Really? There is not enough smh.

me? who?

chronovore · « **Reply #1088 on:** September 03, 2011, 10:29:59 PM »

Quote from: MrAngryFace on September 03, 2011, 04:26:06 PM

Quote from: chronovore on September 03, 2011, 11:12:58 AM
I think if I read that book, I would become your namesake.

Caliphate? Really? There is not enough smh.

me? who?

I would become a "mister angry face" -- I think the idea of a caliphate is super unrealistic, and seeing it used for fear mongering is lame. I actually thought the Jesusland secession shown in Richard K. Morgan's THIRTEEN is a more realistic proposal.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #1089 on:** September 03, 2011, 10:32:06 PM »

Im reading warhammer books...

chronovore · « **Reply #1090 on:** September 03, 2011, 10:34:38 PM »

Yeah, I got that. I've been known to from time to time as well.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #1091 on:** September 03, 2011, 10:35:40 PM »

what are we talking about then?

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #1092 on:** September 03, 2011, 10:38:09 PM »

This is what you get for being clever-clever Chrono

chronovore · « **Reply #1093 on:** September 03, 2011, 10:46:13 PM »

Yeah, I won't be trying that again, soon.

Cerveza mas fina · « **Reply #1094 on:** September 07, 2011, 03:36:27 AM »

I pretty much stopped reading lately, off period. Have at least 10 books just waiting on me.

Only thing I read a bit now is

which I'm rereading after 15(?) years just in time for the movie.

muckhole · « **Reply #1095 on:** September 07, 2011, 07:28:41 AM »

After grabbing it on a recommendation here, I've finally begun reading Tokyo Vice. I've just begun, but I enjoyed the setup/prologue, and I'm just getting through the little bits of how the author came to be working at the news agency. So far, so good!

Eric P · « **Reply #1096 on:** September 07, 2011, 08:40:38 AM »

still reading supergods. dude is going to make me buy all of The Invisibles again isn't he?

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #1097 on:** September 07, 2011, 10:13:05 AM »

Quote from: muckhole on September 07, 2011, 07:28:41 AM

After grabbing it on a recommendation here, I've finally begun reading Tokyo Vice. I've just begun, but I enjoyed the setup/prologue, and I'm just getting through the little bits of how the author came to be working at the news agency. So far, so good!

I met the author last year and he was kind of a dick. Very disappointing but you figure you have to be a bit of an oddball to want to do what he did in the first place.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #1098 on:** September 07, 2011, 10:15:33 AM »

Quote from: Eric P on September 07, 2011, 08:40:38 AM

still reading supergods. dude is going to make me buy all of The Invisibles again isn't he?

I'm not a huge comics expert but the book has been really entertaining and interesting so far

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #1099 on:** September 07, 2011, 11:34:45 AM »

Quote from: MrAngryFace on September 07, 2011, 10:15:33 AM

Quote from: Eric P on September 07, 2011, 08:40:38 AM
still reading supergods. dude is going to make me buy all of The Invisibles again isn't he?

I'm not a huge comics expert but the book has been really entertaining and interesting so far

I'm up to the Hollywood chapter - been enjoying it. I am curious to check out Marshal Law - never heard of it before, but he seems to put it up there with Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns as one of the 80s books that changed the game. It seems like it might have been more of a UK thing.

Also gonna finally check out Ellis' Stormwatch run, based on his breathless description of it as a proto-Authority.

Morrison is MAD JELLY people loved Ellis' Authority more than his lame-ass Ultramarines

Eric P · « **Reply #1100 on:** September 07, 2011, 11:51:36 AM »

Quote

Marshal Law - never heard of it before

Quote

Ellis' Stormwatch run, based on his breathless description of it as a proto-Authority.

buh?

Never heard of Marshal Law?

Never read Stormwatch?

Stormwatch is the (ha ha) thoughtful Authority. Authority is the "well fuck you guys! you want the pewpew up your doodoo? here it is"

edit: to be fair though, i didn't like Marshall Law when I first read it because I don't think I was in tune with its satire. I just thought it was trying to push the excesses of the "dark and gritty" for its own sake. but that was like 20 years ago or so...

tiesto · « **Reply #1101 on:** September 07, 2011, 01:19:33 PM »

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #1102 on:** September 07, 2011, 02:08:16 PM »

Quote from: Eric P on September 07, 2011, 11:51:36 AM

Quote
Marshal Law - never heard of it before

Quote
Ellis' Stormwatch run, based on his breathless description of it as a proto-Authority.

buh?

Never heard of Marshal Law?

Never read Stormwatch?

Stormwatch is the (ha ha) thoughtful Authority. Authority is the "well fuck you guys! you want the pewpew up your doodoo? here it is"

edit: to be fair though, i didn't like Marshall Law when I first read it because I don't think I was in tune with its satire. I just thought it was trying to push the excesses of the "dark and gritty" for its own sake. but that was like 20 years ago or so...

Hey, I don't give you grief for never reading Kree-Skrull before, man!

Eric P · « **Reply #1103 on:** September 07, 2011, 02:21:35 PM »

i am just shocked that's all!

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #1104 on:** September 07, 2011, 09:43:38 PM »

Marshall Law was the first and only comics signing I've ever been to, with Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill. I was like 12 yrs old and terrified to be meeting these grown men who wrote such deeply perverse and transgressive material. It's great stuff but obviously a one-trick pony. Hate for capes writ large.

Consul · « **Reply #1105 on:** September 08, 2011, 01:14:55 AM »

genius

Dickie Dee · « **Reply #1106 on:** September 08, 2011, 01:52:46 AM »

Quote from: Eric P on September 03, 2011, 09:36:15 AM

ha ha. yeah, flashback is glen beck porn.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-flashback-by-dan-simmons/2011/07/19/gIQA62F6lI_story.html

Quote
Dan Simmons’s “Flashback” is an abundantly entertaining, often outrageous right-wing fantasy about a weak, broken United States 20-odd years from now. The country is ruled over by the Japanese, lives in fear of the Islamic Global Caliphate, and its citizens mostly spend their time stoned on a drug called flashback that lets them escape to a better past. Some of the events that have occurred between now and the early 2030s can be summed up thusly:

U.S. Goes Bankrupt

Israel Destroyed by Nuclear Attack

Mexican Army Invades California

Sharia Law Rules Europe, Canada

Giant Mosque Built at Ground Zero

U.S. Down to 44½ States

There’s more, but you get the idea. And if you haven’t guessed, the blame for almost all these disasters lies with the fellow who was elected president of the United States in 2008.

this is the most heartbreaking news I've ever heard, one of my favorite authors is Orson Scott card 2.0

Eric P · « **Reply #1107 on:** September 08, 2011, 06:28:51 AM »

Quote from: Mamacint on September 08, 2011, 01:52:46 AM

this is the most heartbreaking news I've ever heard, one of my favorite authors is Orson Scott card 2.0

who just rewrote hamlet, btw.

http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2011summer/card.shtml

Quote

Here's the punch line: Old King Hamlet was an inadequate king because he was gay, an evil person because he was gay, and, ultimately, a demonic and ghostly father of lies who convinces young Hamlet to exact imaginary revenge on innocent people. The old king was actually murdered by Horatio, in revenge for molesting him as a young boy—along with Laertes, and Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, thereby turning all of them gay. We learn that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are now "as fusty and peculiar as an old married couple. I pity the woman who tries to wed her way into that house."

muckhole · « **Reply #1108 on:** September 08, 2011, 06:51:14 AM »

Quote from: Consul on September 08, 2011, 01:14:55 AM

(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

genius

I loved this series when I read it years back, recently found out that an attempt is being made to turn it into a trilogy of movies. My initial reaction was "You've got to be kidding", but I'll admit that there's a tiny part of me that wants to see how it will be handled, just out of sheer curiosity. It would be a hell of a challenge to turn this into any form of usuable script IMO, with so many characters.

Or maybe they'll just turn it into a shit horror flick and focus on the Shrike. :'(

chronovore · « **Reply #1109 on:** September 08, 2011, 10:47:33 AM »

Quote from: Eric P on September 07, 2011, 08:40:38 AM

still reading supergods. dude is going to make me buy all of The Invisibles again isn't he?

Wait, I assumed that was a given. It's a given, right?

Eric P · « **Reply #1110 on:** September 08, 2011, 10:51:27 AM »

I will probably hold off on buying Invisibles again with the hope that they put them into the deluxe editions things like 100 Bullets, Preacher and the like are getting.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #1111 on:** September 08, 2011, 11:21:34 AM »

Quote from: Eric P on September 08, 2011, 10:51:27 AM

I will probably hold off on buying Invisibles again with the hope that they put them into the deluxe editions things like 100 Bullets, Preacher and the like are getting.

Man, I would rebuy Deluxe Invisibles faster than you can say "MDMA"

Consul · « **Reply #1112 on:** September 08, 2011, 11:48:21 AM »

Quote from: muckhole on September 08, 2011, 06:51:14 AM

Quote from: Consul on September 08, 2011, 01:14:55 AM
(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

genius

I loved this series when I read it years back, recently found out that an attempt is being made to turn it into a trilogy of movies. My initial reaction was "You've got to be kidding", but I'll admit that there's a tiny part of me that wants to see how it will be handled, just out of sheer curiosity. It would be a hell of a challenge to turn this into any form of usuable script IMO, with so many characters.

Or maybe they'll just turn it into a shit horror flick and focus on the Shrike. :'(

yeah....i hear bradley cooper is the one who is writing the script so don't expect anything great haha.

i would watch a movie just of fehdman kassads story alone. all those battles

or the priests tale.

if it were up to me i'd split it up into 4 movies for the first two books.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #1113 on:** September 08, 2011, 12:08:06 PM »

Quote from: Howard Alan Treesong on September 08, 2011, 11:21:34 AM

Quote from: Eric P on September 08, 2011, 10:51:27 AM
I will probably hold off on buying Invisibles again with the hope that they put them into the deluxe editions things like 100 Bullets, Preacher and the like are getting.

Man, I would rebuy Deluxe Invisibles faster than you can say "MDMA"

Yeah, it needs to be recolored for a start. I'm sure it will happen eventually though.

I started reading the Patrick Meaney book recently btw ('Our Sentence is Up'). I assume you have it?

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #1114 on:** September 08, 2011, 12:20:01 PM »

Quote from: Cormacaroni on September 08, 2011, 12:08:06 PM

Quote from: Howard Alan Treesong on September 08, 2011, 11:21:34 AM
Quote from: Eric P on September 08, 2011, 10:51:27 AM
I will probably hold off on buying Invisibles again with the hope that they put them into the deluxe editions things like 100 Bullets, Preacher and the like are getting.

Man, I would rebuy Deluxe Invisibles faster than you can say "MDMA"

Yeah, it needs to be recolored for a start. I'm sure it will happen eventually though.

I started reading the Patrick Meaney book recently btw ('Our Sentence is Up'). I assume you have it?

yes, and the Disinformation Guide

I reread Invisibles about 2.5 years ago - then immediately shed 50 pounds in the next 4 months, got promoted at work, and met my fiancée. So I take Morrison's nonsense about creating a living sigil that reprograms readers a bit more seriously than might be warranted

Eric P · « **Reply #1115 on:** September 08, 2011, 12:22:16 PM »

now that you mention it, i re-read the invisibles, got fired from a job i hated and then moved to new york city where i got an awesome job that i love and have lived with my girlfriend for the past 2 years now.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #1116 on:** September 08, 2011, 12:28:34 PM »

Well, I accepted the idea that literature can change how you view the world a loooooooong time ago, so he's just stating the case a little more dramatically and attempting a more rigorous framework than most, I think. If The Invisibles is a living sigil, then so is Das Kapital or Mein Kampf. Or even The Audacity of Hope!

Actually, just reading the letters pages would probably be enough to rearrange pliable minds if you were already sufficiently invested in Morrison's ideas or fiction already.

Eric P · « **Reply #1117 on:** September 08, 2011, 01:24:43 PM »

I'm reading Supergods and I can now dunk on Jordan.

Eric P · « **Reply #1118 on:** September 08, 2011, 01:29:35 PM »

Wait, what did reading Cerebus do to me?

tiesto · « **Reply #1119 on:** September 08, 2011, 01:34:03 PM »

Quote from: Mamacint on September 08, 2011, 01:52:46 AM

Quote from: Eric P on September 03, 2011, 09:36:15 AM
ha ha. yeah, flashback is glen beck porn.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-flashback-by-dan-simmons/2011/07/19/gIQA62F6lI_story.html

Quote
Dan Simmons’s “Flashback” is an abundantly entertaining, often outrageous right-wing fantasy about a weak, broken United States 20-odd years from now. The country is ruled over by the Japanese, lives in fear of the Islamic Global Caliphate, and its citizens mostly spend their time stoned on a drug called flashback that lets them escape to a better past. Some of the events that have occurred between now and the early 2030s can be summed up thusly:

U.S. Goes Bankrupt

Israel Destroyed by Nuclear Attack

Mexican Army Invades California

Sharia Law Rules Europe, Canada

Giant Mosque Built at Ground Zero

U.S. Down to 44½ States

There’s more, but you get the idea. And if you haven’t guessed, the blame for almost all these disasters lies with the fellow who was elected president of the United States in 2008.

this is the most heartbreaking news I've ever heard, one of my favorite authors is Orson Scott card 2.0

Wow, this book sounds right up my alley... If US was ruled by the Japanese does that mean we will actually get good Japanese games localized again?

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #1120 on:** September 08, 2011, 01:36:05 PM »

Quote from: tiesto on September 08, 2011, 01:34:03 PM

Quote from: Mamacint on September 08, 2011, 01:52:46 AM
Quote from: Eric P on September 03, 2011, 09:36:15 AM
ha ha. yeah, flashback is glen beck porn.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-flashback-by-dan-simmons/2011/07/19/gIQA62F6lI_story.html

Quote
Dan Simmons’s “Flashback” is an abundantly entertaining, often outrageous right-wing fantasy about a weak, broken United States 20-odd years from now. The country is ruled over by the Japanese, lives in fear of the Islamic Global Caliphate, and its citizens mostly spend their time stoned on a drug called flashback that lets them escape to a better past. Some of the events that have occurred between now and the early 2030s can be summed up thusly:

U.S. Goes Bankrupt

Israel Destroyed by Nuclear Attack

Mexican Army Invades California

Sharia Law Rules Europe, Canada

Giant Mosque Built at Ground Zero

U.S. Down to 44½ States

There’s more, but you get the idea. And if you haven’t guessed, the blame for almost all these disasters lies with the fellow who was elected president of the United States in 2008.

this is the most heartbreaking news I've ever heard, one of my favorite authors is Orson Scott card 2.0

Wow, this book sounds right up my alley... If US was ruled by the Japanese does that mean we will actually get good Japanese games localized again?

no, but the second-hand market in Mickey Mouse watches will go through-the-roof

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #1121 on:** September 08, 2011, 05:13:14 PM »

Quote from: AWESOM-O on September 08, 2011, 04:41:35 PM

I came across Ender's Game on my shelf the other day and flipped through it. The idea of Peter taking over the world by making REALLY GOOD message board posts seems pretty ridiculous today.

Whereas in 1985, it was extremely believable!

Consul · « **Reply #1122 on:** September 08, 2011, 05:59:21 PM »

Quote from: AWESOM-O on September 08, 2011, 04:41:35 PM

I came across Ender's Game on my shelf the other day and flipped through it. The idea of Peter taking over the world by making REALLY GOOD message board posts seems pretty ridiculous today.

This is merely phase one my friend.

Robo · « **Reply #1123 on:** September 08, 2011, 06:01:41 PM »

Quote from: Howard Alan Treesong on September 08, 2011, 01:36:05 PM

Quote from: tiesto on September 08, 2011, 01:34:03 PM
Wow, this book sounds right up my alley... If US was ruled by the Japanese does that mean we will actually get good Japanese games localized again?

no, but the second-hand market in Mickey Mouse watches will go through-the-roof

Eric P · « **Reply #1124 on:** September 08, 2011, 06:09:24 PM »

are you kidding me? nerds LOVE that shit. it's ridiculous.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #1125 on:** September 08, 2011, 06:11:42 PM »

'struth - despite all reality to the contrary, Ender's Game and Memory, Sorrow and Thorn both still have nerd cred

Robo · « **Reply #1126 on:** September 08, 2011, 06:14:25 PM »

Currently reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court during unpacking breaks. It's all over the place, conceptually, but the humor is fantastic -- puerile, maybe, but I am adoring the skewering of Arthurian legend.

chronovore · « **Reply #1127 on:** September 08, 2011, 06:17:39 PM »

Quote from: Eric P on September 08, 2011, 01:29:35 PM

Wait, what did reading Cerebus do to me?

BAM! You're a misogynist.

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #1128 on:** September 08, 2011, 06:33:34 PM »

Quote from: Howard Alan Treesong on September 08, 2011, 05:13:14 PM

Quote from: AWESOM-O on September 08, 2011, 04:41:35 PM
I came across Ender's Game on my shelf the other day and flipped through it. The idea of Peter taking over the world by making REALLY GOOD message board posts seems pretty ridiculous today.

Whereas in 1985, it was extremely believable!

It helps to be 12 when you read it.

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #1129 on:** September 08, 2011, 06:36:34 PM »

Ender's Game was the shiznite back in grade school.

Consul · « **Reply #1130 on:** September 08, 2011, 10:18:44 PM »

best collection of short stories in the history of mankind.

FatalT · « **Reply #1131 on:** September 09, 2011, 07:51:57 PM »

I've been reading The Hunger Games even though it's a total rip of Battle Royale. Enjoying it though!

fistfulofmetal · « **Reply #1132 on:** September 14, 2011, 04:53:44 PM »

I've been reading through The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories.
A lot of these have been really good. Just now got to the title story so I'm pretty excited to read through it.

Bebpo · « **Reply #1133 on:** September 14, 2011, 08:10:44 PM »

On page 773 / 808 in Game of Thrones. I am going TO THE MARKET, buying some food, then going TO THE HOME and finishing this book if it's the last thing I do!

I really like it, just at 10-30 pages every few days it's taken me 3 months to get to this point (I started it the week after the HBO show ended). READY FOR CLASH OF KINGS.

Bebpo · « **Reply #1134 on:** September 14, 2011, 10:32:57 PM »

FOUR PAGES LEFT

going to heat the bbq and read them while it's getting to 500F so I can throw some POLLO ASADO on.

Bebpo · « **Reply #1135 on:** September 15, 2011, 12:20:39 AM »

FINISHED IT

That was goooooooooooooooooood

One of the top10 books I've read. So many characters who all have depth! and are interesting! and seeing them all play into each other it's like a Matsuno game on an even bigger scale. I looked at the world map after finishing it and reading the appendix and it's just like an rpg where we've only even seen part of the world! So much left to find out about!! Excitingggggggg

Going to finish up some short games I left hanging and then start Clash of Kings next week. WOOHOOOO

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #1136 on:** September 15, 2011, 01:16:20 AM »

yeah, but....the latest book is such a snorefest i abandoned it halfway through

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #1137 on:** September 15, 2011, 01:44:08 AM »

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #1138 on:** September 15, 2011, 01:58:56 AM »

dude, I've got 300 other books on my Kindle that are more inviting. I'm not saying I'll never finish it but seriously, I just stopped caring about what was going on. It was all so piddling and trivial.

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #1139 on:** September 15, 2011, 02:02:36 AM »

Quote from: Cormacaroni on September 15, 2011, 01:58:56 AM

dude, I've got 300 other books on my Kindle that are more inviting. I'm not saying I'll never finish it but seriously, I just stopped caring about what was going on. It was all so piddling and trivial.

and long

I haven't read the fifth book yet, but I can imagine feeling like you do. I hated sludging through much of the middle of AFFC, but the ending redeemed it for me. I think I care about endings too much, sometimes.

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Author Topic: What book(s) are you reading? (Read 683909 times)