The 12th Commandment Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Re-reading the justified books (Raylan Givens). Elmore Leonard was truly an American treasure. His dialogue is second to none. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Currently reading Firemen by Joe Hill. Not loving it so far, seems to be spinning its wheels in the middle for entirely too long. might recover and end well though, you never know until you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted November 14, 2021 Share Posted November 14, 2021 Update. Didn’t like Firemen by Joe Hill. It wasn’t awful, but I think it was mostly just unnecessary filler. This one could have been cut down to a novella and might have been good. Followed it with the winner of Goodreads Choice Award for horror, Mexican Gothic. The goal was to avoid a second disappointment… and it was one of the worst horror reads in recent memory. Slow, not at all scary, and with a “twist” that brought M Night Shyamalan to mind. I don’t normally comment on prose, but i found myself checking to see if this one had been translated about half way through it. That’s never a good sign. Can’t risk a third so I’m putting horror down and seeking refuge with a classic, Don Quixote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinking Skins Posted November 14, 2021 Share Posted November 14, 2021 I'm trading the Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. I like it. Book one send like it was meant to be a stand alone then the series goes into revealing more about the magic and it's power. But Richard is grounded and I like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyJ Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 The last book of the Expanse series, Leviathan Falls, got published on November 30th. It took a couple days for me to wrap up the book I was reading, but the deck is cleared and I'm 2 chapters in. I'm a bit sad that after this, there's a single novella left. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Spiff Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 Led Zeppelin, The Biography by Bob Spitz. If you like the band, highly recommended. Not sure if it uncovers anything new but it does a great job of relaying how the band came to be and how they were driven apart (before Bonham's death, hope I didn't spoil it for anyone). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 18 minutes ago, NickyJ said: The last book of the Expanse series, Leviathan Falls, got published on November 30th. It took a couple days for me to wrap up the book I was reading, but the deck is cleared and I'm 2 chapters in. I'm a bit sad that after this, there's a single novella left. I started the same book last night. Jumped right to the front of the reading list for me. Agree about the sadness too, that’s how you know the series was a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyJ Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 (edited) And after some marathon reading, I have now finished Leviathan Falls. Bitter sweet to reach the end. One of the things I've really loved about the series is the metaphors the characters say. I've been able to rip off a few of them from the book and use them in front of friends who loved them, or inspired me to come up with my own. Now I'm desperately trying to find a reason to belt out "using a microwave as a lamp because it has a light in it". Edited December 13, 2021 by NickyJ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 21 hours ago, NickyJ said: And after some marathon reading, I have now finished Leviathan Falls. Bitter sweet to reach the end. One of the things I've really loved about the series is the metaphors the characters say. I've been able to rip off a few of them from the book and use them in front of friends who loved them, or inspired me to come up with my own. Now I'm desperately trying to find a reason to belt out "using a microwave as a lamp because it has a light in it". I haven’t finished it yet, I’m dragging my feet on purpose. i wanted to add to your comment though that I appreciated how this series introduced me to constant acceleration as a solution for artificial gravity. I’ve read and seen a million scifi stories and had only seen unexplained artificial gravity or a big rotating contraption. I’d never considered the interior of a ship looking like a vertical apartment building and just applying constant acceleration. I had fun looking up how long it would take to reach the moon and mars this way (decelerating for the second half of the trip) and it would make the solar system seem like a much smaller place. Mars could conceivably be reached in just three days. The moon, in just a few hours. All with the passengers feeling gravity as normal for most of the trip. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 12th Commandment Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 (edited) On 12/2/2021 at 12:21 PM, NickyJ said: The last book of the Expanse series, Leviathan Falls, got published on November 30th. It took a couple days for me to wrap up the book I was reading, but the deck is cleared and I'm 2 chapters in. I'm a bit sad that after this, there's a single novella left. Just finished it. Sad is right. What a wonderful series. I thought the epilogue was perfect. Edited December 31, 2021 by KAOSkins 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forehead Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 A few months ago, I had re-started the Wheel of Time. I first tried to read them maybe 4-5 years ago but got bogged down somewhere in book 3 or 4 and never finished. So I restarted them. Then I find out Amazon Prime is making a show out of it so now I'm trying to read a lot faster so I don't get overtaken in the show and have the books ruined. I'm somewhere in book 3 again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwyl Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Wheel of time bogs down pretty bad in the middle. The last 3 books recover nicely though. I'm about halfway through the last one and also reading leviathan falls, depending on which mood I'm in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forehead Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 3 minutes ago, Pwyl said: Wheel of time bogs down pretty bad in the middle. The last 3 books recover nicely though. I'm about halfway through the last one and also reading leviathan falls, depending on which mood I'm in. I've never gotten that far, hopefully it isn't too much of a slog. Then again, I've read Lord of the Rings multiple times and the last several chapters of the last book are almost pointless in that one. Weren't the last three books that you say "recover nicely" written by someone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 The Passage Trilogy by Justin Cronin. The first two books were pretty great. The third book is a mess and has no direction. Like, if you don't know what you are going to write for an ending, don't write the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwyl Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Branden Sanderson finished the series from Robert Jordan's notes. And I rather enjoyed the chapters in lotr where the hobbits were putting their wider world experiences to use in repelling the invaders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 On Book 2 of Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea series. Half a King (book 1 of that series) was a fun read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 This thread is more useful if people give thoughts on the books they post. Even if just initial thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 The Law of Innocence It's a Lincoln Lawyer novel, and I like Michael Connely. Writes a good story, pretty good with the twist. I am only about 50 pages in as yet, so no much to review, but it's good and it's moving along. ~Bang 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Silmarillion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 16 hours ago, Pwyl said: Wheel of time bogs down pretty bad in the middle. The last 3 books recover nicely though. I'm about halfway through the last one and also reading leviathan falls, depending on which mood I'm in. Wheel of time is a slog in the middle. It really bogs down in seemingly useless details, but when it’s over that middle part is why the characters feel so familiar to you. You spent time with them, and not just during things essentially to the plot. It’s not the best way to write a series, but it’s not without value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan since a Fetus Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Yeah, I quit Wheel of Time during book 6. I couldn't soldier through it. The first 3 books where incredible. So awesome and adventurous. After that it sucked IMO. Unfortunately,it bogged down and was so boring. Jordan admitted to slowing it down for the money, to keep it going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 53 minutes ago, Fan since a Fetus said: Jordan admitted to slowing it down for the money, to keep it going. Do you have a source for that? I don't understand all of the people who get fed up with the pacing and style of the series midway through and just stop reading it. By that point aren't you in for a penny, in for a pound? RJ established his super slow boiling, painstakingly detailed narrative style in the first book and never deviated from the formula. The series just incorporates more characters and fully developed plot threads as the series goes on, but it was never brief or fast-paced. And if anything, the long wait for the final hundred page rapidly-paced apotheosis every book began feeling realistic and comfortingly familiar to me. And I was never tempted to quit because I became invested in the characters and learning their fates. I didn't quit reading the series until halfway through the Sanderson books, and that was only because the shift in narrative voice and the altered characterization was so jarring to me that it broke my suspension of disbelief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan since a Fetus Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 32 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said: Do you have a source for that? I don't understand all of the people who get fed up with the pacing and style of the series midway through and just stop reading it. I don't have a source at the moment. I looked. Everything I see involves the series on Amazon, so it makes it quite difficult. It was something I read a long time ago and was corroborated by a friend of mine. These books have been out forever. It's been a while. I think that my part of my source would be my friend who was a moderator on a Wheel of Time forum for years. Even he admitted to the slowing down of the books. He loved them, but they became a slog. It's not personal. They just became boring. The pacing changed. Whether or not I read the first few books, does not mean that I am forced to read the final 6 or 7. In fact, if I am finding it to be a crappy series, then I am justified in letting it fall to the side. I was really disappointed in the 5th and 6th books. I found them boring. Especially after the first 3 were so excellent. My friend told me that if I didn't enjoy the 5th and 6th, then to quit the series. It doesn't get much better. So I did. I really wanted to finish the rest of the story. But eh..... I bought the whole series expecting it to be quite excellent. I was disappointed and I refuse to read something that I feel is a waste of my time. I want to be entertained. Entertain me. I don't read for the kudos of strangers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinsfan1311 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) 14 hours ago, Bang said: The Law of Innocence It's a Lincoln Lawyer novel, and I like Michael Connely. Writes a good story, pretty good with the twist. I am only about 50 pages in as yet, so no much to review, but it's good and it's moving along. ~Bang Great choice. I enjoy everything that he's written. I've been bouncing between revisiting *Carl Hiassen's "Star Island" and Terry Pratchett's "Witches Abroad" I needed some fun reads, after finishing the gritty story written by a fellow ES members Dad. "Assault on the Liberty" by James Ennes Jr. it's the true story of the Israeli attack on an American ship, (USS Liberty), back in '67. Jim was stationed on the ship, when it was attacked. If you thought the bureaucracy in "Catch 22" was nuts, "Assault on Liberty" proves that fact is definitely stranger than fiction. It's not a literary masterpiece, but was told through the eyes of someone who was there, It really hit home with this Navy Brat. *If you haven't read Hiassen, I can highly recommend. I'm pretty sure that his books would be right up your alley. Edited January 1, 2022 by Skinsfan1311 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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