Book Recommendations

[Lester Polfus]

I’ll be glad to read whatever that Barbur writes next.

Spoiler Alert:

Dent goes home to Appalachia. Zany hijinks ensue. Probably late 2020.

[JAD]

I don't know how many times I've read the Sprawl Trilogy, but this reminds me I need to read it one more time.

For sure once more; and since I used it for a 'great first lines,' I think it's important to read at least 'Naked Lunch' as a sort of prologue to Gibson.

[Medusa]

Finished this. The brutality of it along with what felt to me like too much length and filler followed by an over rushed finish, plus some other stuff but mostly those, puts paid to my continuing the Culture series. Three is enough. I get why he’s an influential figure and understand why others are into this, but I’m done.



Started Hurley’s Light Brigade. As it happens I abandoned her Mirror Empire series for similar reasons as above, so I’m interested to see how it goes.

[TheRoland]

I just refinished reading the entire series. "The man in black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed" - best opening line ever (nearly). The rest of the series will bend your brain, and, as much as I love the story, the obvious and heavy handed deux ex machina(s) employed later on take some of the shine off the whole enterprise. But, if you're a King fan, this is his opus, and weaves many of his other works into itself (with various levels of success).

Without saying too much, I hope, it is a fantastic line even when it's not the opening. Even if you're not a King fan, this series is special enough to excuse some odd middle segments.

[Jim Watson]

Opening paragraph
"As I left the Kenya Beanstalk capsule he was right on my heels. He followed me through the door leading to Customs, Health, and Immigration. As the door contracted behind him I killed him."

I am mostly SF with some contemporary adventure (Frex "that fuckin' Virgil Flowers,") but when I want poetry, I read Lois McMaster Bujold. She thinks she is writing F/SF.

[Clusterfrack]

Finished this today. It was ok, but it strikes me a bit like an allegory with no real point or purpose. There’s some good description at times, some neat turns of phrase; and there is, or may be, enough substance there I may read the next to see if there’s a payoff, but it won’t be high on my list of to read books. I wonder, as well, if this is a book that suffers as an audiobook rather than being read. That’s rare in my experience, but maybe that was part of my being underwhelmed.

I tried hard to read these, but only made it most of the way through the 2nd. I was underwhelmed also, and didn't find it much better than the other stuff he writes. Stephen King needs a good editor who can tell him that he's not a clever or deep as he thinks he is. King needs to cut his word count by at least 75%.

[blues]

Stephen King needs a good editor who can tell him that he's not a clever or deep as he thinks he is. King needs to cut his word count by at least 75%.

I enjoyed "Pet Sematary" and maybe one or two other early works. Anything I've tried to read since suffers from bad writing, bad editing and poor concept, imho. I couldn't agree with you more.

[BN]

I now have Children of God out of the library.

I couldn't finish it. I read the first few chapters and got lost in the switching timelines. Sparrow did the same thing, but I got through it. I'm glad I use the public library rather than buying books.

[Medusa]

I couldn't finish it. I read the first few chapters and got lost in the switching timelines. Sparrow did the same thing, but I got through it. I'm glad I use the public library rather than buying books.

Libraries, at least good ones, are the business. As for switching timelines, I agree, sometimes it works for a given reader, sometimes it doesn’t. I found the switching in use of weapons annoying, but was okay with it in children of god and sparrow and many others.

[Joe in PNG]

Finished this. The brutality of it along with what felt to me like too much length and filler followed by an over rushed finish, plus some other stuff but mostly those, puts paid to my continuing the Culture series. Three is enough. I get why he’s an influential figure and understand why others are into this, but I’m done.

Banks is a bit like PTerry, in that the earlier books in the series are not a particularly good intro to the series. I've read "Use of Weapons", and wasn't especially impressed- nor did I like "Excession" all that much.
I will say that "Look To Windward" and "Surface Detail" are far better Culture novels, and ones I re-read on a regular basis.