Some of his podcasts are also pretty good. The only thing is that much like this forum, one needs to do one's best to tell oneself that one really doesn't "need stuff," if you know what I mean.Originally Posted by Casual Friday
Some of his podcasts are also pretty good. The only thing is that much like this forum, one needs to do one's best to tell oneself that one really doesn't "need stuff," if you know what I mean.
"You can't win a war with choirboys. " Mad Mike Hoare
This was a quirky and excellent book. Thanks!
I just finished The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec, a Norse mythology novel, it was very good.
@JAD
I must be like an abused spouse, because I read William Gibson's The Peripheral.
It was... not bad.
It was very much a return to Gibson's normal style/themes, after the steaming pile that was most of the "Blue Ant" trilogy. It's a time-travel story... sort of. The action is split between the very-near future (maybe 20-ish years from now) and the, er, less near-future (90-ish years from now). It's a thing in the further future for the super-rich there to contact the near-future, thus creating a "stub," i.e. an "alternate past" that these super-rich can then dick around with for fun without affecting their own past. There's also "peripherals", tele-presence bodies that people use for fun. Stuff happens, time-streams mix. Worth a look if you like Gibson's stuff.
Some stuff I didn't like: Gibson has a style where he doesn't do a lot of exposition, doesn't explain stuff, he let's it gradually unfold over the story and you have to pick it up from context. Normally I like the way Gibson does this, but in The Peripheral, he went a bit overboard; by the end of the book, I felt as if there were several things I still didn't understand. The book also has some plot holes, the especially large one being I still don't see why the whole plot kicked off in the first place. Lastly, I don't really like politics in my fiction (unless I'm specifically reading it for the politics), and Gibson seems to be letting his personal politics seep in more and more. I will not be reading the follow-on to The Peripheral (Agency), as Gibson stated the he scrapped the original plot after Donald Trump was elected President, as he just couldn't not respond to this happening (eyeroll) (the plot of Agency involves a "stub" where Hillary Clinton won, natch).
"The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so."
― Ennius
A Man Named Doll, a mystery by Jonathan Ames.
What I can't get past is that the printing in the book is so light that it seems as though the ink was severely watered down. I have to read it in daylight, reading by a lamp is just not good enough. I don't care how good a book is, none of them are worth eyestrain.
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
Well, it didn’t watch matter. It was pretty sucky.
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
I recently reread the first 2 books of Brandon Sanderson's 'Stormlight Archive'. It had been several years since I read them and enjoyed the reread immensely, I then devoured the 3rd book 'Oathbringer' which was amazing.
I'm now a little halfway through the 4th book 'Rythm of War'. I probably had too high of expectations going into it, but I'm thinking it needs to be retitled as 'Rythm of self-pity, self-loathing, depression, and various other melancholies as described by an amateur psychologist'.
In the previous books Sanderson did a great job of giving his characters internal struggles to battle along side the external forces set against them. These battles could be quite relatable and moving in and of themselves. Now these internal struggles take center stage as the numerous exciting and interesting developments of the plot get brushed aside in favor of self-indulgent dialogue. Characters you used to look forward to reading about now illicit groan when the POV switches to them and you're wondering what this guy is going to cry about now. Then you realize that it will be about the same thing over and over and over.
I'm just butthurt and venting, but I've loved every one of Sanderson's books so far, and this one has me racing to finish. So I can just be done with it.
I just finished A Man At Arms by Steven Pressfield. Not bad, a little unbelievable in the amount of punishment a man can take.
Blood and Ice - by Robert Masello
An interesting historical vampire story from the 1800s to modern times in Antarctica (where two sadly infected lovers are found from being thrown overboard). Keeps your interest but the ending falls apart and is rushed. I would have rather seen it played out differently. However, it is good read.
The German Invasion of Norway: April 1940
by Geirr H. Haarr
A very readable and detailed history of the events. It's sad for the Norwegians who come across as brave but so naive and unprepared. They were living in an earlier age of violations of neutrality being important and not realizing the horror facing them. Little real preparation so some good assets were not used. Not that they would have won but it could have bloodied the Nazis more than they did.
I just finished Ocean Prey, the latest Lucas Davenport novel which also features Virgil Flowers, it was very good.
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