Whats everyone reading?

[TordelBack]

For shame! It was a bit of an abrupt finish...

Aye, I loved Matter, and while a little taken aback by the rapid Chekov's Gun resolution, I thought it was one of his richest, most thought-provoking Culture outings.  I have Surface Detail teasing me from across the room, but I'm saving it for when I really need it.  For now Stephen Baxter's Ark is keeping me entertained. 

[Mikey]

Ark is still languishing on my to read, um, mound I suppose is the only way to describe it at the minute. How does it measure up to Flood? I wasn't so keen on Flood personally (as I probably mentioned on here) and it's put me off a bit. Though there will be space ships an that I take it? Any talking squid?

M.

[Richmond Clements]

For shame! It was a bit of an abrupt finish...

Aye, I loved Matter, and while a little taken aback by the rapid Chekov's Gun resolution, I thought it was one of his richest, most thought-provoking Culture outings.  I have Surface Detail teasing me from across the room, but I'm saving it for when I really need it.  For now Stephen Baxter's Ark is keeping me entertained. 

Yes, me too- Surface Detail is taunting me... but I've just got another book through to review after thinking after the one I'm reading at the moment I could get to one of my own choice...


I adored Matter, although I admit the ending was... something of a shock. I love the enormous pun he has injected into the plot though- the literal [spoiler]deus ex machina[/spoiler] is quite brilliant.

[El Chivo]

Just finished The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - Stephen King
Really good, any other recommendations in the 'triumph over adversity' genre?
If not gonna give World War Z a go

Cheers

Chi

[TordelBack]

How does it measure up to Flood?

I'm about halfway through, and I'm really enjoying it.  I was a bit surprised that I enjoyed Flood as much as I did (I only got as a bit of an afterthought due to a Waterstones 3 for 2 deal, since I'm trying to avoid end-of-the-world stuff these days), but I thought it had some fantastic scenes and images, and a suitably relentless type of horror to it, albeit softened by the improbability of the disaster.

Ark addresses the same story from a very different angle, one of hope and ingenuity amidst the desperation, rather than the despair and disintegration that characterised Flood.  Its message is 'think big - no, bigger than that', and it's a good one.  If I'd been Baxter I'd possibly have made them into one longer cheerier book, because so far they seem more like parallel tales than a series, but I'm sure there are economic considerations there.  

It also makes a very interesting companion volume to Baxter's earlier classic Titan, combining the harsh reality of that novel with a more forgiving scientific environment, presenting fairly far-out solutions to essentially the same logistical problems.  I don't know where it's going yet, but I love a good generation-ship story, and survival/colonisation at the end, so I'm hoping for both of those

So yes, there is a very awesome spaceship, and I'm still holding out for talking squid.  There are few stories that can't be improved by the addition of exotic cephalopods.

[Kerrin]

Really enjoyed this. A return to form with the Culture novels after the relatively disappointing (to me) 'Matter'.

For shame! It was a bit of an abrupt finish...

'Relatively' disappointing is the key there, I'll still be rereading it this year and, as with all the 'M' Banks books, enjoying it more on a second run. I honestly didn't think I'd get the same 'hit' from rereading 'Excession' or 'Use of Weapons', but whadya know? 'Matter' knocks most other modern sci-fi into a wittily sentient heavily armed hat but compared to my Culture favourites it just didn't quite do it for me.

[Mikey]

Yeah, fair do's - Excession didn't really do it for me as it happens.

M

[Kerrin]

Joe Abercrombie's latest 'The Heroes'. So far, so good.

[Richmond Clements]

Drop Dead Gorgeous by... some guy.

[SmallBlueThing]

Well, after loving arthur c clarke's rendezvous with rama, i gave rama 2 two hundred pages before giving up. Horrible, boring characters, appalling dialogue, a snail's pace and most importantly it doesnt even seem to exist in the same 'universe'. Everything is wrong, and it reads like a belated rewrite, attempting to dismiss the original's more charming elements. Like a modern remake of a classic film. Just... Yuck.

So ive moved on to good old ben bova, and another of his 'grand tour' novels: this time, mercury. All good so far, though the image of george takei as the central character is distracting.

SBT

[HOO-HAA]

Drop Dead Gorgeous by... some guy.

Aha! Did Snowbooks send you one, then?

How's it going for you?

(please like it!)

[Richmond Clements]

Drop Dead Gorgeous by... some guy.

Aha! Did Snowbooks send you one, then?

How's it going for you?

(please like it!)

Yeah- I just asked for a pdf- quicker ans easier!

And so far so good!
I never get tired of the 'I know where that is!' feeling!

[Bolt-01]

I'm currently half way through the Culled by Si Spurrier. Got it from ReadItSwapIt and I'm really enjoying it. Throwaway page turning trash culture. Result!

[HOO-HAA]

I'm still re-reading the Dragonlance Chronicles from my youth. Good, clean dragon-slaying fun!

[O Lucky Stevie!]

Well, after loving arthur c clarke's rendezvous with rama, i gave rama 2 two hundred pages before giving up.

Wise move SBT. You don't need to claw through 1000 pages to learn that [spoiler]Rama was built by God.[/spoiler][spoiler] Dead set.[/spoiler]  

Clarke's collaborations are mostly the work of his co-authors (Arthur was generally involved in the initial plotting) & for the most part aren't generally  recommended even for completists. Even the ones with Baxter are pretty underwhelming in comparison to either's solo output.