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Azmodes
Ultranaut

Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:44 am
Posts: 11196
Location: Ob der Enns, Austria
PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 10:24 am 
 

I finished the second book in C. A. Higgins' Lightless series. Pretty good, if maybe a bit slow. What I like about her writing is that it's very deliberate in the characters' emotions and thoughts, with some good, vivid descriptions in general. Vibe-wise it's a bit like a mix of Donaldson's Gap novels (pretty bleak overall with a lot of character deliberating and introspection and complex relationships, but not really with the angst turned to 11 all the time, which is good; Donaldson can be exhausting in that regard), Alastair Reynolds (the Ananke arc reminds me of the lighthugger from his first novel and everything has a cold and dark hi-tech sci-fi feel as well) and The Expanse (power struggle in the solar system between Earth-based government and colonist rebels). The worldbuilding could use some improvement, that being said.
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BeholdtheNicktopus
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:26 pm
Posts: 492
Location: Chicago
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:28 am 
 

Nice to see Jack Vance getting discussed. The Dying Earth series is one of my all-time favorite works of sci-fi/fantasy. The dialogue in particular is just astounding. "Stop! I do not care to hear you speak! Obloquy injures my self-esteem and I am skeptical of praise!"

I tried to start reading the Demon Princes but gave up after a few chapters. I just couldn't get into it, but I'd always heard it was one of his best. Maybe I ought to try again sometime.

I just read Michel Houellebecq's "Submission", which I thought wasn't nearly as good as "The Elementary Particles" or "The Possibility of an Island", the only other two works by him I've read. On the other hand, the topic of "Submission" is obviously rather singular; the mentions of Guenon were rather shocking to me, as I was thinking about Guenon when I began to read the book and connected it to him more and more as the plot developed. I can't really see why Houellebecq has such a bad reputation as far as his works go; yeah his characters are all cut from the same misogynistic secular-nihilist loner mold, but hey them's the times. I would say, at least, that he's probably the most in-tune with the current moment of any writer I've read (but I've not read DeLillo, who I guess might be other candidate? I've heard mixed things.).

I also finally got around to reading "A Confederacy of Dunces"; that book is probably the funniest I've yet read. Not sure it can be topped in that department.

I am just about to start reading Marechal's "Adam Buenosayres". If this is anything like I think it's going to be (that is, a Ulysses-like metaphysics-themed novel), I am going to like it a lot.
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caspian
Old Man Yells at Car Park

Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 11:29 pm
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Location: Australia
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 1:53 am 
 

Yeah, Dunces is a really, really good book. I'd love a well done movie version of it. Oughta read it again sometime.

Slogging my way through Marx's capital. I'd liken it to reading the bible from front to back. You start with good intentions, but then Leviticus/Chapter 3 of capital hits and your resolve gets severely questioned!!

That said it does get a lot better. On chapter 6 at the moment. His examination of how capitalism must expand is really quite good, and yeah, it certainly gets more readable. I'm reading it with David Harvey's lectures as a guide which I'd highly recommend. It's not that bad a read, but yeah the first few chapters are pretty turgid- still, it's a pretty neat critique of capitalism that is just as (if not more!) relevant today then it was when it was written.
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~Guest 21181
The Great Fearmonger

Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 3:44 am
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 7:17 am 
 

I just finished reading The Road my first McCarthy. Which I previously tried to read but gave up in frustration at the lack of any quotation marks. Knowing what to expect this time it was actually easy to get used to. Glad I gave it a second go. An apotheosis in apocalyptic literature. Bleak refuse and ashen landscape upon ashen landscape and the boy and his papa memorable and nowlookhowimtypingAGHNOOOO

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Nahsil
Clerical Sturmgeschütz

Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:06 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:01 pm 
 

I stopped reading it super early for the same reason, but I should also go back to it, sounds pretty great. I've thought about reading Blood Meridian first instead, but I love post-apocalyptic lit so...
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~Guest 21181
The Great Fearmonger

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:31 pm 
 

I read it now because I own Blood Meridian and while the consensus seems to be that's his best work, it's also possibly his most difficult to read. Figured I would start with an easier one. I also own Outer Dark. I dunno, I've just read three post-apocalypse books back to back and I can't decide if I want to dive right into more McCarthy or if I should continue my streak of EVERYONE DIES books for a little while longer first.

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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:58 pm
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Location: Where the dead rule the night
PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 6:10 pm 
 

The Road was very well done but I doubt I'd read it again - too bleak really. Blood Meridian is, if anything, even darker and more hopeless in a different way, but it's also got enough bizarre stuff and utter carnage wreaked that it becomes entertaining in a savage way - that one I do plan to read again. I'm gonna try some of his other ones sometime soon.

I'm one and a half books into Vance's Demon Princes series - so I guess I finally have some shit to talk about in here. These are cool so far. Very rugged and straightforward, and the action is cool, pulp-style stuff that I find a lot of fun. The world-building is endlessly imaginative and colorful. All in all it's a blast so far. Just good entertainment.
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Azmodes
Ultranaut

Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:44 am
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Location: Ob der Enns, Austria
PostPosted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:26 am 
 

I finally, finally, finally got around to reading the original Dune. I'm embarrassed to confess that although I've been quite familiar and fascinated with the setting for a long time now (starting with watching my dad play the Dune II game by Westwood as a kid), for one reason or another I never managed to read the book itself.

I'm currently a third in and it is intensely apparent that the constant internal monologue thing wasn't something Lynch came up with for his 1984 movie. I have to admit that I find this disorienting combined with Herbert's habit to switch between character's perspectives and thoughts quickly within single chapters. Clunky stuff. The unique atmosphere and immense originality are undoubtedly there, but from a technical, writing skill perspective, I'm not very impressed so far. :/

I'm interested in more stories from the setting, in particular going further back, to the Butlerian Jihad, but consensus among fans seems to be that Brian Herbert's books are downright atrocious fanfic. :( I will try to at least finish the original trilogy.
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Amber Gray
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:30 am
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 4:39 pm 
 

what I've read in the last whatever

John Ajvide Lindqvist - Let the Right One In. Pretty cool, had some sweet things sprinkled within.
Carl Hiaasen - Bad Monkey. Meh.
Dean Koontz - Tick Tock. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't some cool parts but mostly it's pretty stupid especially at the very stupid end that was so stupid it made me mad for even reading this stupid book with the stupidest conclusion to anything ever.
Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore. Spellbinding, started it like three times but actually finishing was a good move.
Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood. Good for what it was (non-fantastical love story) that was heartsy and stuff but not super mesmerizing and crazy.
Haruki Murakami - The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. Definitely tight and zany with weird events that seem to come into fruition without even being noticed, pretty engaging especially at the end, with some of the funniest things I've ever read.
Haruki Murakami - Dance Dance Dance. More comical but paradoxically less funny than Wind Up Bird but still solid, not super outstanding in the big scheme of things.
Haruki Murakami - Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Waste of language (reading so much of his stuff in a short time it really gets redundant but here it's just not even cool either and it made me downright mad. Good if you like loose ends and stuff you've heard before.)
H.P. Lovecraft - The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft. Eldritch.
Philip K Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Classic.
Philip K Dick - Galactic Pot Healer. This is one of my favorites of his and of all time, so much creativity packed into so few pages. I like it cuz it's sci fi as **** and psychedelic and humbling and hilarious. Maybe more than Sheep.
David Mitchell - Slade House. Pretty cool but very let-me-spell-it-out-for-you. Goes by super quick and did intrigue me into reading his more ambitious works. Some good chills.
David Foster Wallace - Infinite Jest. Pretty much anything you could say about a book positive, negative, or neutral, could be said here. A veritable marathon that is relentless.
Salman Rushdie - The Satanic Verses. I liked it a lot, tough at times with all the Indian jargon and intentional grammatical inconsistency (weird style is presented), but quite rewarding and more enthralling when you get into the meat. Recommended if you like hallucinations and books that are good.
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stickyshooZ
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:32 pm 
 

I'm in the middle of reading Nuremberg Diary by Gustave Gilbert and it's a fascinating read. Gilbert was a psychologist who oversaw the Nazi war criminals before, during, and after the trial and kept close notes of conversations he had with all of them. The best part is that Gilbert lets the Nazis speak for themselves and inserts his own opinion very little, which lets you see how awful these people are in a "right from the horse's mouth" sort of way. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in WW2 history, or the history of fascism/Nazism.
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Zelkiiro
Pounding the world with a fish of steel

Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:30 pm
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 6:00 pm 
 

Just got finished with "A Confederacy of Dunces," and I'm a little disappointed. It was a funny book, the characters were fun and engaging, and the setting was absolutely palpable...but the ending just felt kinda off. It felt like the first draft of an ending and had very little fanfare compared to the orgasmic plot-thread explosion of the last Night of Joy scene. And then I remembered the unfortunate circumstances behind the book and that depressed me further.

Oh well. If I had a moustache, I'd be a shoo-in for the role of Ignatius in the woefully-nonexistent live-action adaptation.
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failsafeman
Digital Dictator

Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 8:45 am
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Location: In the Arena
PostPosted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 6:47 pm 
 

Azmodes wrote:
I'm currently a third in and it is intensely apparent that the constant internal monologue thing wasn't something Lynch came up with for his 1984 movie. I have to admit that I find this disorienting combined with Herbert's habit to switch between character's perspectives and thoughts quickly within single chapters. Clunky stuff. The unique atmosphere and immense originality are undoubtedly there, but from a technical, writing skill perspective, I'm not very impressed so far. :/

Yeah I mean, that's exactly right. Amazing setting, fascinating ideas, some pretty exciting plots (in the earlier books, at least), but really clunky writing. For fuck's sake, you get internal monologues and viewpoints from multiple characters on the same page.
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BeholdtheNicktopus
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:26 pm
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Location: Chicago
PostPosted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 6:55 pm 
 

Well as Moorcock said (referencing Tolkien): "I'd rather be a small writer with big ideas, than a big writer with small ideas" or something to that effect. Something of the sort might apply here...

I agree about the ending of Dunces, a bit thrown together in feeling, but then again I don't know if a big finale where everything comes together in a spectacular way would be preferable. The characters are much more important than the plot, as has been said. Nonetheless I felt a bit underwhelmed.
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failsafeman
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 7:13 pm 
 

BeholdtheNicktopus wrote:
Well as Moorcock said (referencing Tolkien): "I'd rather be a small writer with big ideas, than a big writer with small ideas" or something to that effect. Something of the sort might apply here...

Luckily, there's no shortage of big writers with big ideas.
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Face_your_fear_79
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2014 8:18 am
Posts: 492
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 12:22 am 
 

Doctor Sleep
King, Stephen. Still haunted by his experiences at the Overlook Hotel, where he spent one year as a child, Dan Torrence has settled in New Hampshire to try to escape those and other ghosts of his past. The plot contains profanity, sexual situations, and violence. Decent book but not great. Word Count:162325. I am currently reading Sleeping Beauties. Just started with it and I am also reading The Panther by Nelson Demille. Almost done with it but not very satisfied with the story. Kind of anti climatic.

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Face_your_fear_79
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2014 8:18 am
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 5:20 am 
 

[quote="Abominatrix"]Well, I don't entirely mean to sound like a pompous artistic snob here, but it kind of disheartens me to note the proliferation of the video games thread, the SImpsons quote thread, etc, and yet find that whenever someone starts a thread like this one it quickly gets pushed off the first page. I firmly believe that metal is, or at least has the potential to be, one of the more literate subcultures around and that a metal fan who doesn't read regularly does himself a grave disservice. So, let us discuss the books that we're working on, just finished, or are contemplating .. sort of a free-for-all, if you will, but it would be ideal if people actually commented on the picks of others.quote]


I certainly understand you're first comments. Non readers should realize that there are plenty of fictitious fictional books that if read world probably or at least maybe would or could be deemed as potential good or great novels to read and or check out. But what does loving metal have to do with reading?

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Azmodes
Ultranaut

Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:44 am
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Location: Ob der Enns, Austria
PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 7:52 am 
 

If you're going to quote a 10-year-old post, at least get the tags right. :P
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Razakel
Nekroprince

Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:36 pm
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Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 1:34 pm 
 

So in 2017 I decided to keep a list of books I read since I'm always forgetting when I read certain books. I'll include the list here in spoiler tags with brief impressions I had on each of them. It was a good year for reading!

Spoiler: show
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin - Really enjoyed this one. Fascinating, original setting with a really well paced gripping story. Thought provoking but also an exciting page-turner. It was my first Le Guin book and I look forward to checking out more from her.

Maus by Art Spiegelman - Here's a classic comic I've been meaning to get around to for a while. I liked it a lot; obviously very heavy stuff but told in a really clever way. Couldn't put it down.

The Trial by Franz Kafka - One of the best books I read last year. Maybe the best depiction of bureaucratic insanity I've ever read. Simultaneously hilarious and horrifying.

Cosmic Trigger Vol. 1 by Robert Anton Wilson - The first non-fiction book I'd read from RAW after I read the Illuminatus trilogy the year before. Loved it, I could read RAW ramble on about practically anything and I'm sure I'd enjoy it. Just such a funny writer, except when he's heartbreaking.

Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti - This is the newish collected edition of his first two story collections. Whoa. So I've been getting more into cosmic horror/weird fiction in the past couple years and this book did a number on me. Unfortunately, just like Lovecraft, not all of Ligotti's stories are of the same quality, but the best stories in this collection are among the best Weird stories I've ever read. And even a lot of the ones that just sort of diddled on without going anywhere were still always well written and usually had evocative imagery. But ones like "Dr. Voke and Mr. Veech", "The Library of Byzantium", and "The Troubles of Doctor Thoss" are top-tier Weird.

The Vorrh by Brian Catling - I know I've brought up this book in this thread in the past. I decided to give it a reread since its sequel was about to come out. It's still one of my favorite books ever. Just indescribably original with one of the coolest settings I've come across in "fantasy" before. I only got more out of it and fell more in love with it the second time.

The Erstwhile, Vorrh Pt. 2 by Brian Catling - And so...it's unfortunate that I can't sing the praises of the second book in the series as much. Not an utter letdown, but for me it didn't reach the heights of book 1. I've read quite a few reviews saying it's better than the first book because it's a more concise, linear story, but that's exactly what I didn't like about it as much. The first book expertly balanced the stories of a huge cast of characters from different places and different time period, whereas this one focuses on just a few. Oh well, still beautifully written and I can't wait for volume three.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner - And now for something completely different. I've had a few Faulkner books on my shelf and decided it was time I checked him out. Eh. I liked it well enough but I can't say it made a huge impression on me. I think what I found most interesting was noticing the obvious stylistic influences he's had on some of my favorite writers, like Cormac McCarthy.

In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Stories by Lord Dunsany - This is a collection of stories that goes chronilogically through his whole career. Pretty cool stuff! It's easy to see how his really early stuff is pretty proto-Tolkien and there's even some borderline sword & sorcery stories as well. And then the collection goes on to have some Sherlock Holmes-esque detective stuff and even a full-blown sci-fi story. Pretty mindblowing originality considering the time he was writing.

Next Testament by Clive Barker - A graphic novel about God from the Old Testament returning to Earth in the present day and he's not exactly the benevolent all-loving deity people might have hoped for. Completely ridiculous and over-the-top but entertaining enough that I read it in one sitting.

Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood - More supernatural horror! Hmm, I liked this collection but maybe not as much as I was hoping to. I'd read that "The Willows" is one of the most iconic Weird stories, and I liked it, but it didn't blow my mind. My favorite was "The Man Whom the Trees Loved". I think for the most part I found the stories a little bit bloated; he's great at building tension within a cool setting, but most of the stories in this collection were about 40 or 50 pages long IIRC and I think I just wanted a few of them to be more concise. Oh well, I still liked it and have read a few other stories of his since in a few anthologies I have.

In the Penal Colony - Franz Kafka - This was a collection of ever short story Kafka published during his lifetime. What can I say? Amazing. Now I only have The Castle left.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin - There were rumours circulating around April or May or so that The Winds of Winter would definitely be coming out by the end of the year. My fault for listening to them, I guess. But I'd been meaning to give the series a second read for a while so I thought it was as good a time as any. When I was halfway through A Clash of Kings GRRM made a blog post saying these rumours were bogus and that the end of Book 6 was nowhere in sight. Well, I was already too immersed so I read on. I tried out the "A Feast for Dragons" combined reading of books 4 and 5 and I would highly recommend this! It made the story flow so much more nicely and honestly just made certain things make a lot more sense.

The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgeson - Another old horror classic. Hmmm, can't say this one did much for me. I was invested for the first while but I think it definitely could have just been a short story. It just kind of goes on and on and on with the same sort of things happening repeatedly. Had some cool, cosmic horror imagery though.

Cosmic Trigger Vol. 2 by Robert Anton Wilson - Just more good, insightful, silly, wacked out entertainment. I'll try to track down the third volume and maybe read more of his fiction this year.

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs - Probably even crazier than I expected. More of a literary drug trip than a novel. Reminded me of the more fevered passages from some of Thomas Pynchon's books. Fun, I guess?

Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin - Decided I'd check out some other GRRM stuff since I hadn't read anything else by him other than ASoIaF. I'm glad I did because this was a really great book. It's a gothic vampire story but takes place along the Mississipi river in the late 19th century. Really cool characters, very gripping story. He's said he'd like to get around to a sequel when he finishes Ice & Fire. So yeah, we're never getting a sequel.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - This contains the short sci-fi story that the film Arrival was based on. Man, every story had such a cool, original premise. I loved them all. My favorite was "Hell is the Absence of God" which is about angels appearing randomly in the modern world, except they basically function like natural disasters. Crazy stuff.

Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti - I'd been thinking about that previous Ligotti book I read so I ordered another one. Pretty much the same thing, some incredible stories like "The Town Manager" and "The Bungalow House" and some lesser ones. All worth a read, though.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - A classic that'd been sitting on my shelf unread for years. Took it down around Halloween and gave it a go. Good stuff, I liked it more than Dracula, and it's insane to think that she started writing it when she was like 18 years old.

Apt Pupil by Stephen King - I've had the Different Seasons collection for a while and read Stand by Me out of it some time ago but put it back because that one didn't do much for me (I know it's one of his most famous stories, but eh, I couldn't really relate). Decided to give it another crack with this novella and was more impressed. Very tense story. Got a little bit far-fetched in the second half, but overall I couldn't put it down.

On Writing by Stephen King - A little bit more autobiographical than I was expecting, but that's not really a bad thing. Insightful and a useful tool for anyone who, like me, tries to do a bit of creative writing in their free time.

The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer - This consists of the novels Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance. Damn, I really, really loved this. Highly recommended for anyone looking for really original inventive contemporary Weird fiction. Each book was very distinct but the whole trilogy tells such a great story. Really looking forward to the upcoming Alex Garland adaptation of Annihilation.


*editted for spelling errors


Last edited by Razakel on Wed Jan 03, 2018 5:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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BeholdtheNicktopus
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:26 pm
Posts: 492
Location: Chicago
PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 1:41 pm 
 

Ligotti is amazing, though I much preferred Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe to Teatro Grottesco (that latter one was a bit more minimalist or something, probably more Kafka inspired, at least in my eyes). But yeah he really carries the weird flame... I have been meaning to read his treatise "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race" one of these days...

I was somewhat unimpressed with other Lovecraft-associated writers like Arthur Machen and Blackwood. Clark Ashton Smith, on the other hand, is really good!
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Face_your_fear_79
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2014 8:18 am
Posts: 492
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 8:33 am 
 

Azmodes wrote:
If you're going to quote a 10-year-old post, at least get the tags right. :P



Good point.

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~Guest 21181
The Great Fearmonger

Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 3:44 am
Posts: 3987
PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 5:16 pm 
 

Razakel wrote:
So in 2017 I decided to keep a list of books I read since I'm always forgetting when I read certain books. I'll include the list here in spoiler tags with brief impressions I had on each of them. It was a good year for reading!

Spoiler: show
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin - Really enjoyed this one. Fascinating, original setting with a really well paced gripping story. Thought provoking but also an exciting page-turner. It was my first Le Guin book and I look forward to checking out more from her.

Maus by Art Spiegelman - Here's a classic comic I've been meaning to get around to for a while. I liked it a lot; obviously very heavy stuff but told in a really clever way. Couldn't put it down.

The Trial by Franz Kafka - One of the best books I read last year. Maybe the best depiction of bureaucratic insanity I've ever read. Simultaneously hilarious and horrifying.

Cosmic Trigger Vol. 1 by Robert Anton Wilson - The first non-fiction book I'd read from RAW after I read the Illuminatus trilogy the year before. Loved it, I could read RAW ramble on about practically anything and I'm sure I'd enjoy it. Just such a funny writer, except when he's heartbreaking.

Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti - This is the newish collected edition of his first two story collections. Whoa. So I've been getting more into cosmic horror/weird fiction in the past couple years and this book did a number on me. Unfortunately, just like Lovecraft, not all of Ligotti's stories are of the same quality, but the best stories in this collection are among the best Weird stories I've ever read. And even a lot of the ones that just sort of diddled on without going anywhere were still always well written and usually had evocative imagery. But ones like "Dr. Voke and Mr. Veech", "The Library of Byzantium", and "The Troubles of Doctor Thoss" are top-tier Weird.

The Vorrh by Brian Catling - I know I've brought up this book in this thread in the past. I decided to give it a reread since its sequel was about to come out. It's still one of my favorite books ever. Just indescribably original with one of the coolest settings I've come across in "fantasy" before. I only got more out of it and fell more in love with it the second time.

The Erstwhile, Vorrh Pt. 2 by Brian Catling - And so...it's unfortunate that I can't sing the praises of the second book in the series as much. Not an utter letdown, but for me it didn't reach the heights of book 1. I've read quite a few reviews saying it's better than the first book because it's a more concise, linear story, but that's exactly what I didn't like about it as much. The first book expertly balanced the stories of a huge cast of characters from different places and different time period, whereas this one focuses on just a few. Oh well, still beautifully written and I can't wait for volume three.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner - And now for something completely different. I've had a few Faulkner books on my shelf and decided it was time I checked him out. Eh. I liked it well enough but I can't say it made a huge impression on me. I think what I found most interesting was noticing the obvious stylistic influences he's had on some of my favorite writers, like Cormac McCarthy.

In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Stories by Lord Dunsany - This is a collection of stories that goes chronilogically through his whole career. Pretty cool stuff! It's easy to see how his really early stuff is pretty proto-Tolkien and there's even some borderline sword & sorcery stories as well. And then the collection goes on to have some Sherlock Holmes-esque detective stuff and even a full-blown sci-fi story. Pretty mindblowing originality considering the time he was writing.

Next Testament by Clive Barker - A graphic novel about God from the Old Testament returning to Earth in the present day and he's not exactly the benevolent all-loving deity people might have hoped for. Completely ridiculous and over-the-top but entertaining enough that I read it in one sitting.

Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood - More supernatural horror! Hmm, I liked this collection but maybe not as much as I was hoping to. I'd read that "The Willows" is one of the most iconic Weird stories, and I liked it, but it didn't blow my mind. My favorite was "The Man Whom the Trees Loved". I think for the most part I found the stories a little bit bloated; he's great at building tension within a cool setting, but most of the stories in this collection were about 40 or 50 pages long IIRC and I think I just wanted a few of them to be more concise. Oh well, I still liked it and have read a few other stories of his since in a few anthologies I have.

In the Penal Colony - Franz Kafka - This was a collection of ever short story Kafka published during his lifetime. What can I say? Amazing. Now I only have The Castle left.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin - There were rumours circulating around April or May or so that The Winds of Winter would definitely be coming out by the end of the year. My fault for listening to them, I guess. But I'd been meaning to give the series a second read for a while so I thought it was as good a time as any. When I was halfway through A Clash of Kings GRRM made a blog post saying these rumours were bogus and that the end of Book 6 was nowhere in sight. Well, I was already too immersed so I read on. I tried out the "A Feast for Dragons" combined reading of books 4 and 5 and I would highly recommend this! It made the story flow so much more nicely and honestly just made certain things make a lot more sense.

The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgeson - Another old horror classic. Hmmm, can't say this one did much for me. I was invested for the first while but I think it definitely could have just been a short story. It just kind of goes on and on and on with the same sort of things happening repeatedly. Had some cool, cosmic horror imagery though.

Cosmic Trigger Vol. 2 by Robert Anton Wilson - Just more good, insightful, silly, wacked out entertainment. I'll try to track down the third volume and maybe read more of his fiction this year.

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs - Probably even crazier than I expected. More of a literary drug trip than a novel. Reminded me of the more fevered passages from some of Thomas Pynchon's books. Fun, I guess?

Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin - Decided I'd check out some other GRRM stuff since I hadn't read anything else by him other than ASoIaF. I'm glad I did because this was a really great book. It's a gothic vampire story but takes place along the Mississipi river in the late 19th century. Really cool characters, very gripping story. He's said he'd like to get around to a sequel when he finishes Ice & Fire. So yeah, we're never getting a sequel.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - This contains the short sci-fi story that the film Arrival was based on. Man, every story had such a cool, original premise. I loved them all. My favorite was "Hell is the Absence of God" which is about angels appearing randomly in the modern world, except they basically function like natural disasters. Crazy stuff.

Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti - I'd been thinking about that previous Ligotti book I read so I ordered another one. Pretty much the same thing, some incredible stories like "The Town Manager" and "The Bungalow House" and some lesser ones. All worth a read, though.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - A classic that'd been sitting on my shelf unread for years. Took it down around Halloween and gave it a go. Good stuff, I liked it more than Dracula, and it's insane to think that she started writing it when she was like 18 years old.

Apt Pupil by Stephen King - I've had the Different Seasons collection for a while and read Stand by Me out of it some time ago but put it back because that one didn't do much for me (I know it's one of his most famous stories, but eh, I couldn't really relate). Decided to give it another crack with this novella and was more impressed. Very tense story. Got a little bit far-fetched in the second half, but overall I couldn't put it down.

On Writing by Stephen King - A little bit more autobiographical than I was expecting, but that's not really a bad thing. Insightful and a useful tool for anyone who, like me, tries to do a bit of creative writing in their free time.

The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer - This consists of the novels Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance. Damn, I really, really loved this. Highly recommended for anyone looking for really original inventive contemporary Weird fiction. Each book was very distinct but the whole trilogy tells such a great story. Really looking forward to the upcoming Alex Garland adaptation of Annihilation.


*editted for spelling errors



Funny, I did the same thing in 2017 for the first time. Depending on whether you consider Book of the Short Sun one book or three, I read 16-18 books last year...and for the first time in several years I did not do my annual Silmarillion re-reading. All but one of the books I read last year were new reads rather than re-reads. I won't do an individual breakdown of each one, just some highlights and low points.

Highlight: Book of the Short Sun. I had some issues with the middle section that were for the most part addressed by the end of the book, and I have a strong feeling when I re-read it this one will eclipse all but New Sun as my favorite in the Solar Cycle. Just a lot of really poignant moments and excellent characterization.

Low point: Childhood's End. Never have I encountered a work that better encapsulates the wisdom of the saying that scientists make poor politicians. This is the sort of book where sentences like (not verbatim) "the aliens demanded humans put aside their national divisions, and this was accomplished within two years" are uttered seriously, without any satire or sarcasm. Beyond that...what are the characters' names? What reason do I have to care about them? Why is the final act a bunch of New Age bullshit, and why is it in a sci-fi novel?

Most WTFery: Gravity's Rainbow. Not even gonna bother to explain...if you've read it, you know.

Biggest surprise: The Left Hand of Darkness, because nearly everything written about it led me to believe it would be more about challenging gender/sex norms, which is actually a very minor part of the book.

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Nahsil
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 8:42 pm 
 

For the most part, Le Guin does a good job of buttressing her politics within actual narrative and characterization and stuff. That's why she's so good! Dispossessed might be a little bit of an exception to that, but I thought the characterization at least was still pretty strong. I'd read sections to my gf at the time, since we were in a long distance relationship.
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~Guest 21181
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 3:17 am 
 

Yeah the politics in that one are a little more front and center, but there was enough nuance/not too much preaching to be hugely detrimental. I was just surprised because almost every single review of Left Hand makes hay out of the sexual fluidity which ends up being more of a decoration than a central plot point. With Dispossessed, there isn't really a similar discrepancy because the radical political beliefs every review mentions actually are a major part of the plot.

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:51 am 
 

I finished Crime and Punishment a couple of days ago. It was a good read. Now, I'm currently reading Demons by Dostoyevsky. I'm really enjoying this novel.

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Resident_Hazard
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:01 pm 
 

Empyreal wrote:

I guess I just don't care for these dystopian stories. Not my thing. I just can't get into stuff that posits that the mass of humanity in the free world would ever let things turn into something that awful.


Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Stalin, Putin, Trump.

The masses of the free world have spent far too much time willfully allowing maniacs, power-hungry monsters, and tyrants to enter power.

Dystopian stories always take things a step or two far to make their point, but that's the thing. They only needed to take a couple steps to go too far.

Look at the way Trump threatens American freedom literally every day, and how many people apologize for it and are happy to let it happen. People just don't fucking care enough. That, and the belief that It Can't Happen Here is all it takes for it to happen.
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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:37 pm 
 

Yeah, I've responded to these points already - I see what you mean but the stories do nothing for me and don't have anything that compels me. And you know I pay attention to the news. I like different kinds of stories and can't get into that stuff. I read to learn about individual human experiences and the complexity of the mind and the subtleties and the gray areas of humanity, not be brow-beaten with stories like 1984 and the likes.

Finished three Demon Princes books - they all follow a formula, to be sure, but hell if they aren't fun. Vance's feel for descriptions and world-building is a treat and the stories are raw and fast paced.

Now digging into Stephen King's collaboration with his son Owen, Sleeping Beauties. Not too far in, but it feels like one of his trademark epics for sure. A greater focus on female characters and more diverse, in-depth characterization in general; less cliche like he used to have, mixed with his usual grandiose style. I'll see how it goes.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 2:27 am 
 

I've been rereading Shogun by James Clavell. I first read it about 20 years ago, back in high school, at my then-best friend's recommendation; it was his favorite book. I must say, this book is just as good as I remembered, maybe even more so. It's probably the longest book I've ever read, at over 1,200+ pages, but it's such a gripping, well-written story that it just breezes by. For those who don't know, it's about an English pilot who gets blown by a storm into Japan with his crew. It's based on a true story of the first Englishman to go to Japan, and how he integrates himself into Japanese culture and politics and makes himself invaluable. There was a miniseries based on it that I've never seen, but I can't imagine it being near as good as the book. Highly, highly recommended.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 6:11 am 
 

I've just finished my first book in english, and it went way better than expected, i barely had to use any dictionary.

I've picked The Rock of Tanios by Amin Maalouf, and it was a pretty amazing read.
Great story with way more twists and suspense than expected and very interesting sections about old lebanese culture and government.

If anyone has interest in middle eastern culture i highly suggest to pick this up

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Resident_Hazard
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 2:33 pm
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 9:42 am 
 

Empyreal wrote:
Yeah, I've responded to these points already - I see what you mean but the stories do nothing for me and don't have anything that compels me. And you know I pay attention to the news. I like different kinds of stories and can't get into that stuff. I read to learn about individual human experiences and the complexity of the mind and the subtleties and the gray areas of humanity, not be brow-beaten with stories like 1984 and the likes.


Fair enough, sir. It was presumptuous of me to comment like you're unfamiliar with those talking points--I didn't mean to imply ignorance.

I enjoy dystopian fiction in general, though to be fair, I see your point. Most dystopian fiction is based around a few (or even a single) primary motivator that brought them to that point. The film version of V for Vendetta (which I did not like), worked the War on Terrorism into it's plot weaving as to a partial cause. Which I thought was stupid at the time.

Some are flimsy, like the "no-art" backdrop of Equilibrium. A fun movie, but a silly background and reasoning, not to mention the stylish cars and obvious graphic design elements behind their "not a swastika" symbolism, ha ha.
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InnesI
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:43 pm 
 

Thiestru wrote:
I've been rereading Shogun by James Clavell. I first read it about 20 years ago, back in high school, at my then-best friend's recommendation; it was his favorite book. I must say, this book is just as good as I remembered, maybe even more so. It's probably the longest book I've ever read, at over 1,200+ pages, but it's such a gripping, well-written story that it just breezes by. For those who don't know, it's about an English pilot who gets blown by a storm into Japan with his crew. It's based on a true story of the first Englishman to go to Japan, and how he integrates himself into Japanese culture and politics and makes himself invaluable. There was a miniseries based on it that I've never seen, but I can't imagine it being near as good as the book. Highly, highly recommended.


I saw the first two episodes of Shogun some years ago. It was very good. For some reason I never got around to the second two. Been meaning to see them for the longest time. Good to hear the book is appreciated. I am definitely interested in reading it. Japanese culture is fascinating and I am very intrigued as to how it could have been to arrive there and integrate oneself with the language and customs of 1600's Japan.
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Morrigan
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:07 pm 
 

Morn Of Solace wrote:
I've just finished my first book in english, and it went way better than expected, i barely had to use any dictionary.

I've picked The Rock of Tanios by Amin Maalouf, and it was a pretty amazing read.
Great story with way more twists and suspense than expected and very interesting sections about old lebanese culture and government.

If anyone has interest in middle eastern culture i highly suggest to pick this up

I read that a while ago. A gift from an Algerian friend. I don't remember much about it except that I enjoyed it a lot at the time so... I guess I recommend it too! ^^

Read it in its original French though, don't know how the English translation compares.
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~Guest 334273
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:54 am 
 

Ahah! My story is similar! a Tunisian friend gave me the book as a present: she has read it in both french and english and tought it was simple to read and well translated :)

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Xymosys
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:10 pm 
 

Well, recently i got my hands unto other works of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, besides all known The Little Prince. The books are: Southern Mail, Night Flight and Citadelle (The Wisdom of the Sands). And I must say i'm deeply overwhelmed by his visions and thoughts.
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MARSDUDE
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:07 pm 
 

Just finishing up Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump—His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall. Released back in 1991, it details Trump Plaza Casino top-executive Jack O'Donnell's experiences working for Trump, featuring such stories as: Trump buys a young racing horse but it's not race-worthy fast enough for him, so he rushes the process and it ends up getting seriously sick and having parts of its front legs amputated, after which he doesn't want the horse anymore; Trump's efforts to woo Marla Maples while still married to Ivana, which includes building an oyster shop just for her, and sneaking her along on family trips to Aspen; Trump says he doesn't want black people to count his money, that they're genetically predisposed to being lazy; and so much more!

It shows him in a pretty poor light, even back then. His memory was abysmal, and his attention span was like that of a small dog. And he's only gotten worse. I highly recommend it.

Next up is Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff. Should be a good companion to the previous book.
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Nahsil
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:49 pm 
 

I need a scifi book to read. I'm in the middle of Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest and I like it but not enough to motivate me to read at night instead of using the internet and staying up too late. Over halfway through so I'll prolly finish it regardless, but any recs for after?

I think the last "page-turner" I read was Old Man's War. I've tried to read the Culture novel Player of Games, thought it was okay. I've been reading Vance's Demon Princes, definitely not bad but I think there's some depth of characterization I'm missing (it is fun swashbuckling scifi adventure though).

Been considering Atwood's Year of the Flood because I loved Oryx and Crake, but I've heard it's not quite as good? Also been considering Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy. I enjoyed Parable of the Sower a decent amount, haven't read the sequel (so maybe that?).

Also recently read about half of Delaney's Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand. I liked the non-experimental/postmodern-y bits more, so maybe I should read his earlier stuff like Babel 17/Nova?
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Amber Gray
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:47 pm 
 

Image

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, 2000
709 pages (technically speaking)

This was recommended by a friend, a published author herself. I wanted a sick book of course but also inspiration. By the time I started reading this, I'd already started much more of my own stories, and as I LEAFED through it with unstoppable anticipation, I found that somehow my work was uncannily similar. You'd think it not possible that I didn't take any cues from it, that heavy influence is deceivingly notable. Impressive for never reading it.

I came in search of horror and boy did I find it. Visually driven stuff. Not just talking about the imagery either. The Irvine Welshian, experimental and indeterminate format reads like an ancient scroll written anonymously in a language spoken nowhere. Along the way we encounter braille and single/couple word pages that do well to increase your heart rate to match the pace at which you suspensefully flip and flip. Musical staves, margins filled with endless lists of notable and possibly some nonexistent architecture. Triangular passages residing in the corners of pages and paragraphs that quite literally fall apart like a Jenga tower.

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]House[/COLOR] is madness and anguish incarnate. Starting from the inside out, it revolves around a simple but fragile and disintegrating family, exploring the ineffable qualities of a house that is larger on the inside than out. The family and affiliated friends that arrive to trek the infinite and impossible chambers within the [COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]house[/COLOR] are themselves the subject of a conceptual (as in nonexistent) homemade film being described in immense and imagined detail as an academic study by a conspicuously crazy and deceased blind man, who left behind his haphazard manuscript in his apartment when he died, a whole trunk full of scraps of concentrated tin foil hat-ness, whose outrageous delusions are found and assembled by a young man, ultimately the narrator if there ever was any, who also tells of his own deterioration brought upon by the discovery in scattered footnotes and brought into further light by the appendices.

Never before (and admittedly I haven't read all that much in my life until now) have I encountered such a visceral and relentless account of what it means to suffer in every way. The brutal honesty delivered by our disgruntled narrator is uncompromising, you can almost feel the pain that this book exudes.

I would readily liken this to At the Mountains of Madness but of a modern age. What scares us is that same Lovecraftian ambiguity that is almost threatening in its perplexity and unknown-ness. The interior of the home depicted in The Navidson Record (the central piece of [COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]House[/COLOR]), is reminiscent of the titanic temples of the Great Old Ones found at the Plateau of Leng. Beneath the [COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]house[/COLOR] is an endless void with unlimited doors and curves, spiral staircases, impossible stretches of distance, and corridors and halls that shift on their own accord or perhaps bend to the state of the observer, with different personalized images seen by each character even if they're looking at the same thing.

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]House[/COLOR] delivers on an astonishing amount of levels. It is horrifying, intensely disturbed, and with enough grief for twelve funerals. It is sad, sad and utterly life like, as relationships crumble and egos even more so. It is frequently hilarious. It is meticulous, a jimmy rustling characterization of the absolute furthest reaches of the mind and the images it has the ability to create. It is well researched and even more, like... well there's a veritable smorgasbord of very particular and specific footnotes and references to many many many made up things that are quite scholarly. On top of it all, [COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]House[/COLOR] proves once again that there is nothing outside of yourself that can even come close to matching the terror of the human mind.

10/10

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Razakel
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:10 pm 
 

Awesome! Been meaning to get around to House of Leaves for a long time. I think I'll make a point of it this year.

I read Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light last week which was great. Very cool story, very nicely written. I guess I'd recommend it to you, Nahsil, if you're looking for good sci-fi, but I don't know if I'd really call it a 'page turner' at least in an exciting, pulpy way. I definitely read it quickly, but it's pretty dense.

Also just finished an incredible short story collection, Tenth of December, by George Saunders. Holy shit, this was amazing. Every story was great and one of them called "Escape from Spiderhead" was an out-and-out masterpiece. Can't wait to get more by this author. His new novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, has gotten rave reviews.

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Nahsil
Clerical Sturmgeschütz

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:57 am 
 

I read about half of Lord of Light a few years ago and enjoyed it, but not enough to finish. Kinda weird because I really like Eastern religion/philosophy, but yeah, wasn't super riveting to me for some reason.
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failsafeman
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 10:53 am 
 

Just fyi, I utterly loathed House of Leaves. It's one of those huge postmodern novels (like Gravity's Rainbow or The Infinite Jest) that totally divides readers - either you're entranced by it as Amber was, or you fucking hate that pretentious, longwinded, "the author loves the smell of his own farts and hasn't even breathed normal air in ten years" gigantic waste of paper.
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Jonpo
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 12:44 pm 
 

I never got very far into it. I was a wee little baby when I tried to read it, but even then I could tell there wasn't really any draw for me. I like stories that purposefully withhold information for a big reveal later. There was nothing about House of Leaves that pulled me into the journey though.

I've been reading Night Shift and re-reading Eyes of the Overworld. There's so much heat in Night Shift, it's been really fun. I Am the Doorway was a fucking killer story that has sort of a "weird fiction lite" feel that I really enjoyed. Trucks was so completely ridiculous. I couldn't decide how I felt about it until the end, which was suitably bleak and desolate. I can't imagine the movie (Maximum Overdrive) isn't complete dogshit, though. Children of the Corn is another short story that was AMAZING, and I've never seen the film. It's just not the kind of story that should be stretched. The characters felt so real in their abusive treatment of each other. And of course the whole ritualistic thing and He Who Walks Behind the Rows was delightful.
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