What Are You Reading?

[Josh]

Almost none of the typical King coked up ranting.

[No One]

[Compass]

I don't want to say too much and spoil it before you've had a chance to finish it, but I do completely agree that his books have become safe over the years. A shame, since this is the same man that wrote stories like Cujo and Thinner once upon a time.

Rose really is one of his nastier antagonists, occupying the void Flagg left behind nicely. Dunno if you caught it, but there was also a subtle nod to NOS4A2's villain early on.

I'm still amazed at how unusually concise and lean Doctor Sleep is. Almost none of the typical King padding.

It is indeed to the point. He's been pretty good about that for a while, though. Even when he kind of slips into ramble mode (Under the Dome), it's still nothing like his IT days, for better or worse.

I didn't read Thinner and have forgotten Cujo. Despite my complaining, I can't deny the ending here was pretty damn satisfying. What I'm asking for -- that the True Knot prevails, and all the good people die -- is simply not what people want, and I don't think I even want myself. Reviews would be scathing. BUT, it would be interesting to have the rug pulled out like that. And I'd feel genuine worry/tension about the outcome in his next novel, unlike here.

Dunno if you caught it, but there was also a subtle nod to NOS4A2's villain early on.

I did! I think there was a Dark Tower reference in NOS4A2, too. That is cute how they wink back and forth. As a dad he must be so proud.

[Tyler_Durden]

Josh - King hasn't done coke since the 1980s. He can an obnoxious blowhard though, if that's what you were getting at.

[sedition]

Ubik by Philip K. Dick PKD wrote this sci-fi thriller in 1969. It's interesting to see how his projected 90s future matched up with reality. This was listed as one to Time's top 100 novels of all time. I really liked the first half a lot more than the second half. It seems like it abandons a lot of the potential plot lines and interactions they set up in the beginning. The twist is good, creepy. Then I felt like I was stuck in a setting I didn't really care about for the latter part of it. I was thinking about how they could adapt this plot, modernize it, and have a good sci-fi movie.. then I realized they already kind of did: Abre Los Ojos/Vanilla Sky.

Hawkwood and the Kings (The Monarchies of God Book One) by Paul Kearney Book one of two in the Monarchies of God series. Military fantasy done well. It follows three to four characters around a deeply developed continent, filled with politics, religions, cultures, histories, and war. The magic system is pretty basic but ties into some of the plot lines. The author writes a lot of technical naval stuff. The guy isn't afraid to write about sex or brutality. Some of the characters are a little boring and one-sided, others are great. I definitely wouldn't recommend it as a jump-in point for starting fantasy, but if you have some background and want a military fantasy novel that isn't Malazan in scope, you might want to try this out.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline A very simple, engaging story that tries and does pretty well at being the ultimate not-to-distant futuristic adventure fantasy for nerds that were kids in the 80s. Every concept in this book is something I've already seen elsewhere. I was really surprised this book came out in 2011 and had a very similar plot to Daniel Suraez's 2006 book Daemon. It felt like this guy was delving into areas that I think most of us here understand on a whole different level, so he comes off as trying to sound like this expert, but for me felt pedantic. I think I'm attacking it more than I should... The guy brings together a lot of elements into this no nonsense enjoyable plot. I'm a little apprehensive to give it a full recommendation here, but I think a lot of people would probably like it. My friend that doesn't read that much listened to the audio version was the perfect target for this. He declared it his favorite book and had everyone he knew, including me, read it.

Neuromancer by William Gibson I decided to reread one of the first books I picked up and read for fun while I was trapped at our campground for a month on an annual surf trip in the late 90s. This book is really amazing on a lot of levels. Reading it a second time, after a lot more experience with writing, you really see Gibson shine as an author. The first time I read it I think I was confused in a lot of parts, but now I appreciate the lack of exposition. The fact this guy wrote this book in 84 is mind-blowing. The cyber-punk genre and the for a lot of real world technology we use today came from this book.

Ringworld by Larry Niven 70s space sci-fi. Some good technical space concepts, non-trope races/aliens and great foresight that helped tie everything together as the novel progressed impressed me. It was a little boring at times. It was hard to comprehend some of the stuff he was talking about in terms of scale or science, but overall decent.

Now Reading:

Century of the Soldier (The Monarchies of God Book Two) by Paul Kearney So far, so good. Just started the second and final book in the series. It's one of those "No character is safe" type of books. Everyone has had to deal with massive amounts of trauma.

[A Robot Bit Me]

Less Than Zero, Bret Easton Ellis. If I had read this in my younger and more vulnerable years, I would have written some very bad poetry and killed myself. It's Disc 2: The Director's Cut of Bright Lights, Big City where, free from box office performance anxiety, the long-rumored original ending where Nothing Nice Happens has been restored. It's our real Catcher in the Rye.

Bright Lights is the better Gen X novel, but this is the more cutting. And the more accurate, really.

[YellerDog]

Reading Orange is the New Black. I hate the narrator.

[A Robot Bit Me]

I finished The Divide and want to set cars on fire.

[Compass]

Finished The Wise Man's Fear (great! Very "harem anime"-ish at times. Surprised people don't freak out about that. Auri book comes out next month!), and a couple hundred pages into Malazan #6, The Bonehunters.

This one is an easier read so far, or maybe I'm just finally getting used to Erikson's style. Coming off Rothfuss, they could not be more different, and must say I strongly prefer Rothfuss. The Kingkiller books are stories about characters, whereas these Malazan books read more like historic recountings. The characters are almost all completely interchangeable. I've probably already said these same things, since I comment after every book, and my memory is awful. Still enjoy them.

I've added some more to my queue, hopefully a bit more Kvothe, and less Apsalar/Bottle/Samar Dev/Kalam/Karsa/Cutter/Felisin/five million other people I'm forgetting:

The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1)

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1)

The Crown Conspiracy

Tigana

[sedition]

I've read The Stormlight Archive and the Lies of Locke Lamora. They are going to both be way more Rothfussy than Erikson.

I was going to write something up on the stuff I've read recently... maybe at work this week.

Anyway I would recommend putting The Way of Kings up there on the top of the list. He develops a really complex world with a lot of cool things going on but focuses on two to three main characters. It's really good.