Speaking of G.R.R. Martin, y'all need to check out the new Humble eBook Bundle. This one has books and comics, including Alan Moore's From Hell.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books

The bundle is certainly tempting, but I'm not yet sold on the ebook thing. I suppose it would be different if I had a good device for reading them, but so far no dice. So I guess I'm sticking with regular books for now.

For me, A Kindle has really helped for travel and those times (which recently seem to be all the time) of being tight with money, then it is worth it. If you're settled and have a steady job then of course the physical copies are the way to go. I'd rather buy records than books and comics at the moment. Also, paying for 'e-books' and 'e-comics' is as bizarre to me as paying for MP3s, just buy the physical copy instead. That Humble Bundle thing seems silly, they are all easy to find online (only comic series I have been looking for and still haven't found it Peter Bagge's Hate, which I like reading on an annual basis, no help for me as my Hate comics are on the other side of the world, it really sucks). From Hell is definitely worth reading, but it's not the best Alan Moore work. I'd read his Swamp Thing stuff and V For Vendetta before it, if you haven't already.

Oh, I definitely understand the benefits of electronic copies of books, music, comics and films. The physical copies are nice enough, I guess, but they take way too much space and are always a hassle to move. While I'm willing to pay for e-stuff, I'm not willing to pay as much for them as for physical copies. If I traveled constantly a lot, I can definitely imagine Kindle being very useful rather than carrying around a pile of books. Would just be way handier. However, with the library system in Finland being fairly superb, I don't need to buy my own copies except of certain books that aren't popular enough here to get picked up. For the stuff that is in here, of course it's easy to find online, but is it easy to acquire online legally at this price?

I'm not sure if the price is good or not, probably is. One thing about the Kindle that is annoying as opposed to a physical copy is the inability to flip through it - gets annoying when reading a lengthy series for example and some character pops up/something gets mentioned that happened previously, and you would really like to flip around in the book to refresh your memory of who/what it is, if that makes sense. Sure you can bookmark pages but you can't tell in advance that some dude mentioned in the beginning is going to be important 400 pages down the line. I hear you about the library though, the one here in this Swedish town has a surprisingly good selection of fantasy and sci-fi books, and graphic novels, so that's the plan for summer.

May as well mention readings quick - busy on the third book of Robin Hobbs' Farseer series. Really enjoying this series, it's decent 'old-school'-ish fantasy, would be top-notch except for the, well, many stupid characters.

Humble Bundles provide an affordable, legal way for me to acquire digital media that helps compensate the creatives without supporting the largely obsolete and parasitical publishing industry. I'm rather glad they exist and frankly offended that you dismiss them as "silly" just because you prefer piracy.

I generally buy things in their physical format, so I'm not sure why you assume that I prefer privacy. I am glad I offended you though, seems every little thing here offends you, lighten up man, you're a real miserable fella ain't ya?

What else would you mean by saying the Bundle is "silly" if not that it's a bad deal (since a deal is all it is), and that it's a silly choice to accept this deal (which I did)? A bad choice means there is a better alternative, but all you offered is that the books are "easy to find online". Tell me more about how you find them online for cheaper than in a Humble Bundle without resorting to piracy.

Holy shit, people who like Peter Bagge?
I got the collected Hate in the two Fantagraphics volumes (Buddy Does Seattle + Buddy Does Jersey). Looking forward to getting the recently released third volume.

Alright, so this is a web comic rather than a book, but holy shit, is it amazing.

Chapter one: http://lovecraftismissing.com/?p=930

Lovecraftian horror set (mainly) in 1926, and Lovecraft himself (or rather the disappearance of Lovecraft) features heavily. I found it through a Cthulhu fan page on facebook and just read through the whole thing in one day even though I should have been working on my thesis which I'm really fucking stressed out about.

The artwork is very 'comic-y', which put me off a bit at first, but fuck, the story is addicting, and he has a very cool take on both the Mythos and Lovecraft himself. Multiple story arcs, mysteries abound, flash backs, a host of cool and horrifying characters, even a sequence where the main characters are taking into three 'branches' of possible action simultaneously and we don't know which one will end up being the actual, real way they act. It can be very confusing at times, but so worth it. Sooo many references to Lovecraft's works, but ah, also to lots and lots of other artists, a lot of which I've probably missed.

The comic isn't finished (it's now in the middle of part five out of six) but the artist has apparently been diagnosed with cancer, so he's looking into finishing the story with a new guy to handle the drawing instead of himself, though he will still write the script (and probably do a few pages of artwork here and there).

Other book stuff: I read The Contortionist's Handbook, which was pretty cool, though I was let down by the ending. Next up is The Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, excited for that one..

Lord of Light is pretty cool. As usual with Zelazny the concept is interesting, and it's developed fairly convincingly, with interesting characters and cool twists and turns. Not quite top-tier stuff though, it lacks that certain special something to put it over the top, but it's still very respectable and generally worth its status as classic sci-fi. I haven't read everything he's written, but based on ~10 books I'd say Zelazny's second-tier, but near the top. He could definitely write some shlock though, so watch your step.

An interesting thing re: Lord of light. You can start at any chapter and finish at the chapter before and it still makes sense. It's a bit of a literary conceit, but it's supposed to be a nod to the pseudo Indian re-incarnation theme of the novel.

That's actually pretty cool! I guess I'll read it from A to B though and then skim around when I'm done to get a feel for how it would be to have started a different place.

failsafeman, I don't read too much sci fi; what would you call top tier stuff? I guess my personal favorites from what little I've read is A Voyage to Arcturus, some Philip K Dick (though it's been a while), Solaris.

I read Heinlein's Stranger recently and I think it jumped into some of my favorite sf, but I also have a hard-on for Eastern philosophy. I remember failsafe saying he wasn't a big fan.

Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance, M John Harrison, Ursula K Le Guin, Michael Moorcock, Philip K Dick, Cordwainer Smith, maybe a few others. Obviously not everything they've written is top-tier, Michael Moorcock in particular has written some pretty awful stuff, but at their best they're definitely my favorites.

Stuff to check out, thanks. I've read some Wolfe (Book of the New Sun), and while I guess it's more of a mix between sci fi/fantasy than anything else, I think of it mainly as fantasy because of basic stuff like Severin wielding a sword and not a blaster.

Seeking recommendations of enjoyable historical non-fiction. I'm open to most anything, with an emphasis on the subjects of Rome or the Enlightenment/Renaissance. General history is fine, but mainly looking for books focusing on specific spans of time or themes within those eras (similar in scope to A World Lit Only By Fire, or Foundation). Thanks!

Started reading Dostoyevsky's The Devils the other day. Forgot how much I like reading things from that time.

Almost in that sort of era is David Hume's "History of England" sometimes called "The History of England in 6 Volumes." He was an eighteenth century Scottish writer. It covers the time frame from the invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution of 1688.

Also Machiavelli's "The Prince". Great book if you are familiar with Renaissance Italy, The Medici clan and the Borgias.

I started reading Watership Down today. Goes great with summer and Wolves in the Throne Room.

Is Malazan Book of the Fallen worth reading in its entirety? I've recently gotten back into reading heavily and I'm craving a new series to start on, but I'm tight on money and I'd only buy them all if they're consistently good.

I just finished Robert Huchinson's biography of Thomas Cromwell. If you're interested in the Tudor period it makes a great counterpoint to Hillary Mantel's novels (Wolf Hall etc). I tend to buy historical non-fiction from a chain of remaindered bookshops locally who sell all their stock for $10 each (which is really cheap by by Australian standards) rather than looking for particular titles. That or stumble across stuff in the library.

Thanks, guys!

I've also had Salt: A World History, and Spice: The History of a Temptation, and Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants recommended to me. Picked up Salt yesterday along with Guns, Germs, and Steel. I guess I should have mentioned that military history is fair game, too. Got Fear the other day (which is fiction informed by first-hand experience of the author, a French solider in WWI), and The History of World War I.

Any others come to mind to anyone?

Finished The Way of Kings last week and that was a thoroughly mind-blowing read. Maybe a little slow at times (especially the first half) but the second half just keeps picking up speed. And what a world Sanderson built. I'm sure the sequel will be even crazier.

Also just abandoned Dune about halfway through. While I enjoyed the first portion of the book quite a bit, all the shit about wandering around the desert was just fucking boring. But I also can't seem to fully "get" sci-fi. I pretty much need magic and swords and magic swords for a book to fully keep my interest these days.

Haha the funny thing is, there basically is magic and swords in Dune. Not magic swords though; maybe that was the dealbreaker.

Yeah, Lucas at least got the idea for light sabers when he was walking through a dark smoke-filled room with a flashlight.

theposega: I know very well that I'll sound like a cheap one-trick carnival pony with a fake beard, but have you read The Book of the New Sun? Swords and magic (in sci-fi, no less) and also good writing. And there are a few unknown books that hardly anyone's read and are really hard to find called A Song of Ice and Fire. Those have swords in them. Magical swords, even.

I skimmed the last ten pages or so of this thread last night and it seemed like half of it was talking about that series or Wolfe in general so I might have to look into it. I can't say it's a priority though. I just can't get into sci-fi much. Something about the tone of the books I've read in the style just isn't enjoyable to me.

I've been meaning to look into George R.R. Martin but keep finding other things I'd rather read first.

And I guess with this being the internet and all my intended meaning was lost, but the whole "magic and swords" bit referred to fantasy in general. Since last April when I started with fantasy, I've only read two books outside of it (The Bell Jar and Doctor Sleep, which even has fantastical elements to it).



Nah, the dealbreaker was that it just turned really goddamn boring. Sorry for causing you pain by not liking a book.

How do you know you caused him pain?

Nothing causes failsafeman pain, except the pain of pain. Actually failsafe and Abom have really great taste in books, I would recommend going through the first twenty pages or so of this thread, it's an absolute goldmine of good recs.

Going to have to say I cant understand how Dune could possibly be boring. It's such a "wheels within wheels" thing - politics, ecology, religion, philosophy....the story itself is good, but the universe-building is incredibly well realized.

The story itself is pretty lame actually. I agree the worldbuilding is really good, top-notch even, but the story is just incredibly typical "chosen one young guy defeats evil empire" shit. Which, come to think of it, is much more common in fantasy than in sci-fi.


I actually think Dune is hugely overrated so...no apology unnecessary.

Fair, but I think the archetypical story balances the wider scope Herbert was trying to explore. One without the other would make for a fairly boring or forgettable book but the combination of a young hero narrative and real world issues, all set in an imaginative and well-realized future, is what makes the book. For me anyway, I am an admitted Dune fanboy.

This whole thing has just been an exercise in internet misunderstandings. My apologies, everyone.

failsafe, I mistook that for a snarky comment so I offered a snarky apology. Also, weirdly enough the only fantasy series I've encountered so far with that plotline is LOTR, which I was somewhat underwhelmed by (albeit for other reasons).



And the worldbuilding in Dune was dope, yeah. The whole bit with the worms was actually really cool. I'm not arguing that at all. I just found that second portion of the book to be rather tedious. That's all.

Thing is, he (Paul) does not "defeat the evil empire" at all - in fact he unleashes something far, far worse than the current regime. The reason the part you got stuck at is a bit slow relates to that in that it goes into a quite metaphysical thing about what Paul actually is (and why the Bene Geserit think he's a monster) and why the Jihad is inevitable. Lots of oddball stuff about the coming war as a genetic response to stagnation in the genepool and similar weird shit.

If you really want to dislike Dune, read the next two books in the series. For old sci-fi, Dune is good, but I think books like Gateway and To Your Scattered Bodies Go are much better. Man this thread really goes in circles, Dune pops up every five or six pages, now someone has to mention Jack Vance or Gene Wolfe again to make the circle complete.

Sure, Philip Jose Farmer especially wrote some really amazing stuff. "Riders of the Purple Wage" is probably my personal favorite of his, just a really nutty vision of the future that is equal parts utopia and dystopia.

Huh, that's interesting as the only other stuff I'd kind-of read by him was a collection of Riverwolrld stories, but to be honest I disliked the first two stories so much I gave up on it - I'll give it his other works another shot once I get over this Robin Hobb kick I am currently on; Robin Hobb rules because it really takes a female writer to make a female character be so poorly written (Hi, Molly! You uninteresting non-man you!).

Just finished reading the Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and it is easily one of the best books I have ever read. Flawless descriptions of violence and landscapes and a very interesting plot. Though it can be a bit difficult at times, I think the use of Biblical language really works for the book. Think I'll finish the Border Trilogy as well this summer (only read All the Pretty Horses).

Basically, yes. My favorite book, the best stuff I've ever read, so I'm always happy when someone reads it for the first time and like it. I lent my copy to a friend to read and while he thought it was 'pretty good' he wasn't floored like I am. I told him to read it again in half a year. I just got Notes on Blood Meridian in the mail, which is an analysis of the book as well as a description of McCarthy's process.. I normally don't like to spend too much time reading analysis of literature (I'd rather just read the subject of analysis myself), but because this book is so awesome I want to learn as much as possible.

I just finished Lord of Light, which was awesome. One of the coolest takes on sci fi I've read, though I admittedly haven't read too much, as discussed a little earlier on this page. Next up is either Laird Barron (I have The Imago Sequence and The beautiful thing that awaits us all waiting) or Zigerly's graphic novel over Call of Cthulhu.

Anyone familiar with http://www.isfdb.org/ ? It's a comprehensive database on fantasy, sci-fi, horror, alt. history, and whatnot, including listings of short stories, magazine articles, reviews, etc. It's pretty cool. Wikipedia uses it a a source in a bunch of genre related articles, but I never see anyone mention it.