Some AI RP done here makes me think quite a few people might be familiar with The Culture series by Ian M. Banks. I personally preferred The Algebraist until he sent the main character on a long and tedious journey through the galaxy.
In general I'm lately having trouble reading Sci-Fi. It mostly feels...annoying.
Quote:Lord of the Rings (Be cautious about trying to read the Simarillian. It's rough)
I LOVED the Silmarillion! Maybe more than LOTR. But yeah...it definitely has a different vibe to it. Almost like reading the Bible, the way he wrote it.
Quote:I LOVED the Silmarillion! Maybe more than LOTR. But yeah...it definitely has a different vibe to it. Almost like reading the Bible, the way he wrote it.
+1, although the Bible feel is only in the first and maybe second part, the actual Silmaril story and Numenor story are definitely not written like that.
Limit by Frank Schätzing was a book I enjoyed a lot. In the beginning everything felt a bit slow and I found myself quitting for a week a few times but it quickly builds up momentum and then you can easily read hundreds of pages without wanting to stop. Very good research and an interesting outlook on the possibilities of the near future.
Obligatory Song of Ice and Fire. Almost done with A Dance With Dragons and I already dread the empty hungering void until GRRM releases the next one. 8|
Currently I'm at volume two of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Thrilling read, but I liked Kafka on the Shore better.
Besides that I am plowing through some essays by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and heading on to Judith Butler's Gender Trouble. Doing a course in critical theory and feminism (in China!) at the moment.
(08-07-2014, 10:41 PM)Drrobe Wrote: Be cautious about trying to read the Silmarillion
The Hobbit is pretty readable and at least I can cope with LOTR - recently read it again, can remember why I struggled when I was nine or ten - but my attempt at the Silmarillion was not so good. It is interesting to know such fine details of the history of Middle-Earth even if incredibly self-indulgent of Tolkien, but by god does it make a terrible read - almost like reading an encyclopaedia from start to finish.
I suppose the Bible comparison (only read the second page afterwards) holds weight too, from the little I've read of that
I've recently been going through the Sam Vimes arc (plus another couple, think I am on thirteenth book in five weeks or so) of the Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett, would recommend it to most people here.
Another favourite author of mine is Ben Elton (of Blackadder fame) who has a good series of entertaining novels on a range of issues. Very very readable, can see why they were bestsellers and why I usually grab one to dive into when going on a bus or something.