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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 10, 2020 16:06:32 GMT -5
I read those WAY back... I have a couple Sci fi Book club hardcovers with the first bunch of books... it gets more Green Lantern-like as you go . Based on things that have come since, I can't say they are good exactly, but you can definitely appreciate them for their place in history.
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Post by berkley on Jul 10, 2020 18:57:08 GMT -5
I read those WAY back... I have a couple Sci fi Book club hardcovers with the first bunch of books... it gets more Green Lantern-like as you go . Based on things that have come since, I can't say they are good exactly, but you can definitely appreciate them for their place in history. Yeah I wish I had read them as a youngster, I think I would have had a great time with them at the age of ten or so. Reading them for the first time just a few years ago, I still enjoyed them but not nearly as much as I would have done earlier. Still, they<re fun reads and as you say every interesting in terms of the historical development of popular SF.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 13, 2020 10:51:05 GMT -5
The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper FfordeThursday Next is back and she is now an apprentice at Jurisfiction, the agency that polices the internal workings of fiction books. She has moved into an unpublished book as a stop-gap as he life in Swindon took serious turns in the last two books. Of course she gets involved in very serious business with her mentor Miss Havisham and Gran Next comes in to keep her tethered to her former life. This is a pretty serious departure in setting from the previous two books and it's a fun departure. What remains consistent is the fun, the jokes and the great use of literary characters and the tropes of various types of literature. This book does not, however, stand alone well. It refers frequently to events in the first two books and while it might be readable alone a lot would be lost if you hadn't read the previous volumes. They are super fun books though and reward those who have read widely.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 16, 2020 21:32:32 GMT -5
Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud
I was on the cusp of giving up on this one... the characters are all prety throughly unlikable, and I really want the djinni to win, though I'm not sure that's right, since their 'winning' probably means exterminating the pesky humans.
The 'mystery' was pretty predictable (I was hoping there would be a twist, but no....), but then the last bit where Bartimaeus and Kitty chat about history, that made me really want to see what's going to happen in the end. I think I'm supposed to root for Kitty, but she's just too annoying for me.
I'm not sure I hated it enough to just read a wiki summary of the plot, so I'll probably read the last one at some point, and hope it's not as big a slog as this one.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 17, 2020 19:53:47 GMT -5
Ghost of Gol (Perry Rhodan #10) by Kurt Mahr It was nice to have a more techincal puzzle this time as the quest for the immortals continues, rather than random stuff for the mutants to do. In fact, the mutants were very little used here... though of course what they did do was completely impossible to do without them. It was more a science puzzle dealing with hyper gravity.. which was fun, as were the energy monsters they found there. The downside was a quite literally Deus ex Machina... again, which whisked them to the next adventure, but at least they had to throw a switch for it to happen.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 17, 2020 20:49:08 GMT -5
Ghost of Gol (Perry Rhodan #10) by Kurt Mahr Translated into the Spanish, that's Los Fantasmas de GO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-L-L-L-L-L!
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Post by Duragizer on Jul 21, 2020 15:12:19 GMT -5
Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary (Marcus J. Borg) IMHO, Borg makes a very compelling case for who the historical Jesus was and what his message really was about. Everyone who conflates conservative Christianity with Christianity in general — believers and non-believers alike — should read this for a new perspective. 9/10
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 21, 2020 17:22:25 GMT -5
I have often wished that somehow Christians could separate the 3rd rail issue that cause them to side with conservatives (Abortion, marriage, etc) and look at the greater picture and side with the party that is more interested in fairness and equality.. few seem to be able to though.
anyway, here's my review for the day... I'm reading this in a big 'ole anthology that I'll review later, but this is part of my Vorkosigan saga read, so it gets to be separate.
Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold
It's official.. LMB is AMAZING at novellas. Due to COVID limitations, I ended up reading Brothers in Arms before this, and thinking 'Gee, I really want to read about those POWs they saved more than this story'.... low and behold, here it is!
Even without any of the supporting cast, 'Admiral Naismith' is a treat, and he is at is best here. I loved the set up of the PoW camp... it really adds to more to the depiction of the Cetagandians as a the enemy.
As is often the case in this series, the characters built here all could be worthy of a focus... I hope to see the revolution in another story at some point in the future.
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Post by brutalis on Jul 25, 2020 12:21:02 GMT -5
Enjoyed Blood Ink, book 2 in Lilith series from Dana Fredsti. Entertaining B- movie stunt woman, descendant of Lilth, Lee Striga now cursed demon hunter. Thrills. Look humor. Action. Monsters (human and demonic and supernatural cuz its Hollywood 'natch) aplenty. Voodoo movie in New Orleans with cast and stunt crew of were cats, crocodile men, ghouls and of course zombies. Book is written (co-writer or ghost writer used?) by Fredsti an actual combat/stunt woman/actress of B-movies (she worked on Army of Darkness) so the story is fresh viewpoints & feels authentic in the movie aspects. Plenty here to enjoy and will watch our for more in the series.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 25, 2020 16:29:05 GMT -5
Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
I really still am not that sure how much I liked this book.... I think I'm grading it harder in my head than I should due to failed potential.
This could be an amazing alt-history sci fi about a meteorite striking Earth. It could also be an amazing look at the impact and struggles of women and minorities in 50s America. It tried to be both, and didn't do justice to either.
The main character was annoying alot of the book... between being desparate to help, but then unable to do so... I think the author was trying to show the problems and stigma of anxiety, but, again, just too much stuff in the same book.
That said, this is clearly a well crafted alt-history scenario that is logical and internally consistent (if I'm not 100% sure if the science is right, seems like there should have been great short term effects and the longer term should have been... longer). Looking at the summary of the next book, it seems there more of the alt-history sci-fi portion, which may well be worth checking out.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 27, 2020 17:28:24 GMT -5
The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson What do you say about one of the most important paperback original novels ever? One that Stephen King hailed as masterpiece that should have shelf space next to Moby Dick and Huckleberry Finn. I probably wouldn't go as far as King (though I find Moby Dick to be unreadable) but it's both an important and an incredibly well crafted book that far outstrips its very humble beginnings. Killer didn't even have the cachet to be originally published as a Fawcett Gold Medal book, but was published by Martin Goodman's Lion Books. Deputy Lou Ford is just a nice, kind of square, good-old-boy, who'd rather talk to troubled kid in truly horrible cliches than arrest him. Oh...and he's also a complete psychopath. He's able to fit in to the small world of Central City, Texas, where his Dad was the town doctor and he has had a lifetime of fitting in. That is until a beautiful prostitute comes to town and sets Ford on a course that unleashes the killer within that he purports to have kept in check for decades. And I say purports because Ford is definitely an unreliable narrator. There's evidence here that Ford isn't nearly as smart as he thinks he is and that his anti-social proclivities are much closer to the surface than he indicates in his narrative. And that's one of the brilliant things about Thompson's tale. Not only does this book presage the wealth of psycho/serial killer lit that would come in the ensuing years (Tom Ripley, Hannibal Lecter, Dexter, etc.), but Thompson's use of first person narrative gives us a look into the killer's mind...though we can't always be sure we're seeing everything. It had been a long time since I'd last read this book. And it's still a chilling read. Great things can come in small packages...like cheap paperback novels.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2020 3:53:51 GMT -5
After reading mostly shorter sci-fi and pulp novels for a couple of years, I forgot how long it takes to get through some of these volumes of epic fantasy. I just read Vol. 2 of Joe Abercrombie's First Law series, Before they Are Hanged... Middle books can sometimes drag, but Abercrombie's cast of characters are so vibrant that they carry you through the narrative despite the length. That narrative is divided between three group, Glotka the Inquisitor and his circle, Colonel West and the Northmen, and the group with Bayaz first of the Magi including Jezal the swordsman, Logen Ninefingers i.e. the Bloody Nine a fearsome barbarian, and Ferro the exotic former slave who has sworn her life to vengeance. There is war on two fronts, a quest for a long lost relic, and oodles of political and social intrigues to round it all out. Each character is distinct and interesting, though not always likable, and the threads from all three parts of the narrative seem to be woven into a greater whole, but the skeins are still separate enough at this point that a clear picture of the bigger arc hasn't fully emerged yet, but we have enough hooks to keep going. And that cast makes you want to stay with them and see what happens even if the overarching story is a slow burn. Enough happens in each part of the narrative to keep things moving forward. I'll be moving on to book three soon, but I will read something else while I wait for the third volume to arrive. -M
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Post by brutalis on Aug 9, 2020 15:51:26 GMT -5
Mercedes Lackey's The Fire Rose is her fantasy re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast. Rosalind Hawkins a strong willed and determined scholar is "hired" as a governess for a railroad Baron's children. Truth is there are no children, the Baron is a true dealer of Magick, a Firemaster in control of all things fiery with magical Salamanders his friends and aides. Jason Cameron had tried a special magick where he failed and is trapped in a half human and half beast form: part man part wolf. He requires Rose's aid as his hands and eyes to help translate and read magical tomes in his search for a cure. Eventually she becomes his apprentice as she learns the truth of Jason's transformation. They find she is an Air sensitive so she trains as apprentice of Air capable of summoning Sylph's as her aides. In their search of a cure the Dan Francisco Fire occurs as their love ascends with the 2 Fire and Air united to destroy another corrupt Fire Master. A splendid retelling where you easily lose yourself in the world Lackey has created
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2020 22:11:49 GMT -5
Mercedes Lackey's The Fire Rose is her fantasy re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast. Rosalind Hawkins a strong willed and determined scholar is "hired" as a governess for a railroad Baron's children. Truth is there are no children, the Baron is a true dealer of Magick, a Firemaster in control of all things fiery with magical Salamanders his friends and aides. Jason Cameron had tried a special magick where he failed and is trapped in a half human and half beast form: part man part wolf. He requires Rose's aid as his hands and eyes to help translate and read magical tomes in his search for a cure. Eventually she becomes his apprentice as she learns the truth of Jason's transformation. They find she is an Air sensitive so she trains as apprentice of Air capable of summoning Sylph's as her aides. In their search of a cure the Dan Francisco Fire occurs as their love ascends with the 2 Fire and Air united to destroy another corrupt Fire Master. A splendid retelling where you easily lose yourself in the world Lackey has created My wife is a huge Mercedes Lackey fan. She did her senior honors thesis on Lackey's works while she was at university, and had a thrill in meeting Ms. Lackey at Gen Con a few years back. I know she has fallen a couple of volumes behind on Lackey's more recent output, so I am not sure if she has read this one. -M
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 10, 2020 9:49:50 GMT -5
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs This sort of turned into a family book club read... I find if the darn things around around the living room long enough, I just sorta have to read them. The author did a pretty good job showing a moon base with current technology, which was fun, but sadly his thought that we could do it in 2040 seems impossible (remember those 50s stories where we had populated the solar system by 2000? Man, have we ever failed). I loved the computer voice recognition gags, as someone that deals with that every day, it really tickled me. The story was very Young Adult, but that's ok, because it's supposed to be. I'm very happy to have young readers be presented with a semi-legit moon base . The mystery part tried hard to be mysterious, but didn't really suceed, but I admit I'm probably better at figuring such things out than the average 12 year old. I was a bit disappointed that the 'big discovery' was what the big discovery always is in near-future space exploration (as if nothing else could possibly be exciting out there!), but Stuart Gibbs is certainly not the only author to fall into that, so I can't really take points off for that.
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