What book are you reading?

[Tikey]

I just picked up a collection of Lovecraft's work, edited in chronological order. I've only read 3 short stories so far, but they all seemed to have a theme of "I had a vivid imagination once, and now I'm crazy forever." I'm assuming his plots branch out as he matured as a writer.

Most of his stuff is pretty much that. There are a few outstanding tales but the "I'm crazy forever" or the "I've seen things so horribly incomprehensible that I'm going to commit suicide" it's a staple of his narrative.
but besides that being how most of his tales begin and/or end. What happens in between it's usually different.
Of course his narrative is built around the concept of the things that are beyond our comprehension and the insignificance of man in the larger scheme. So you're going to end up seeing patterns through most of his work.

How do you mean?

The link in his signature

[Kodeen]

The link in his signature

Doh. I thought Althea was saying my reading technique was just 'spamming through'. Nevermind.

[Rii]

That's a spammer. I don't think it's really reading Nietzsche.

But what if it is? If the spambots have reached existentialism it can't be long till they surpass us entirely. They will gather and ponder the meaning of existence, communicating in a language composed entirely of suspicious hyperlinks, and we ... we wil be the spammers.

[Hanban]

Just finished reading Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks, as suggested in this very thread. Much enjoyed it, but ultimately found the 'protagonist' the least interesting character in the cast.

Without much further ado I started reading The Player of Games. I'm about halfway through and so far I prefer it to the first one!

Also finished reading Roadside Picnic which was quite enjoyable! It wasn't what I expected, but surprisingly good!

[Keep]

That's a spammer. I don't think it's really reading Nietzsche.

Jeez don't fuel his angst, just in case he is!

[ColOfNature]

I haven't read them for a while but I'd like to draw your attention towards The Belgariad and The Malloreon by David Eddings. Formulaic in the best way, they use every trope there is. From the first chapter you can predict where it will end, but for all that there are few better fantasy epics.

[Rakysh]

I would like to second the Col's proposal.

[Similar]

Spent the past eleven days reading the first twenty novels in the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. I'd read the first ten or so some years ago, but didn't remember them very clearly so I reread those. Kind of frustrating. All the sex gets seriously tedious very quickly (and you can't even just skip those parts because sometimes important things happen in the middle of it) and there's a tendency to finish the stories rather abruptly and then wrap them up in a short epilogue. The world is interesting and some of the characters work quite well too, so reading the series is sort of equal parts annoyance and curiosity.

[Nalano]

Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts

Y'know, light reading.

[Shane]

Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts

You might want to look up Churchill's Secret War, it talks about how much of a role Churchill may have played in the Indian famine.

[eRa]

Aaron Dembski-Bowden - The First Heretic (Warhammer 30k)
Hugh Thomas - Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico (or how 500 greedy Spaniards with the help of a few canons, horses and germs laid waste to the Aztec empire)

Also trying to find a specific passage in a Nietzsche book. Not using online search because I actually enjoy the process somewhat. Also, I'm not a spambot.

[westyfield]

Century Rain is ace, y'all should read it.

Now re-reading Mortal Engines. It is every bit as wonderful as I remember. Plus it's a super-quick read now - 300 pages to westy aged 10 was a lot of pages. Now it's the second-smallest book I've read for (literally) years.

[gwathdring]

Just finished Death Masks and the graphic novel version of Storm Front from the Dresden Files series. I'm gearing up to run an RPG in the Fate-base Dresden system and I wanted to get a stronger grip on the world and tone before I set off making my own adjustments to it.

Jim Butcher need an editor. The number of spelling errors and continuity mistakes was rather impressive. But the characters are a lot of fun, the mythos is interesting, and the fight scenes are incredibly well written. The dialog bounces from fantastic and snappy to ... painful. In short, damn good pulp fare with a cast more than worthy of some better editing. The plots aren't half bad, either.

[Shana84]

Just finished "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" by Milan Kundera. Awesome book, so true-to-live although a little sad. Recommended!

[Similar]

Two books into the Warhammer 40K Horus Heresy series. Never read any W40K books before, so I don't know if it's a really bad place to start, but the novels are okay so far. Not completely gripping, but decent enough writing.

[Chaz]

Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks. Yet another "Culture" novel, but who cares, as lets face it they're what he does best and are usually highly enjoyable.

[eRa]

Two books into the Warhammer 40K Horus Heresy series. Never read any W40K books before, so I don't know if it's a really bad place to start, but the novels are okay so far. Not completely gripping, but decent enough writing.

It takes a while to get going but I find the series really enjoyable now (up to #14). The authors vary, generally everything by Dan Abnett is very good stuff. As a starting point, the Heresy is pretty much the founding myth of 40k.

[Similar]

It takes a while to get going but I find the series really enjoyable now (up to #14). The authors vary, generally everything by Dan Abnett is very good stuff.

I just finished the third book and things seem to be warming up. The characters are getting more 'solid' and engaging (though, a good lot of them died in book three).

I thought the series would be a mess with so many different authors, but so far they seem to be hitting the same tone pretty well.

As a starting point, the Heresy is pretty much the founding myth of 40k.

ah, great. I mostly only know the universe from the games, especially Dawn of War.

[westyfield]

Finished Mortal Engines, shed the regulation tear. Now onto Predator's Gold, which I always thought was the weakest of the quartet. I wonder if I'll feel the same after a fresh re-read.

[Coccyx]

Just finished the 'hunger games' series. Overrated, as expected, but still worth the time - it helps that they're mighty short.