What book are you reading?

[Kelron]

I enjoyed Surface Detail, but found Matter boring. Transitions was pretty good too, but I agree that his earlier books are much better.

Recently read Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman, I can't say a lot about it except to read it if you haven't. The man led an interesting life, and it's full of entertaining stories. Also finished Agent Zigzag, a biography of the WW2 double agent Eddie Chapman. It sounded far fetched from the blurb, but was surprisingly believable and seems well researched, if embellished a little for the sake of storytelling.

[Kaira-]

Recently I've been reading PHP A Beginner's Guide and 13 Things That Don't Make Sense by Michael Brooks. The latter is quite interesting, and is quickly becoming one of my favourite "light" readings regarding science among The Universe in a Nutshell and series of books by Finnish astronomer/atheist Esko Valtaoja. Shame that his books haven't been translated to English, since they are quite light to read but still have a lot of substance.

[An Anonymous Source]

Agreed. I enjoyed it, and it's likely one of the better reads released this year, but it's not for everyone.

Have you ever read some of Abraham's other stuff? His Long Price Quartet is excellent and one of the best stuff I've ever read regardless of genre. Lovely and harsh at the same time. That being said, it's extremely different than Leviathan Wakes.

[Althea]

Have you ever read some of Abraham's other stuff? His Long Price Quartet is excellent and one of the best stuff I've ever read regardless of genre. Lovely and harsh at the same time. That being said, it's extremely different than Leviathan Wakes.

Only The Dragon's Path.

[icupnimpn2]

Finished Keith Laumer's The Compleat Bolo. Then moved to the shared universe book Honor of the Regiment: Bolos 1.

Bolos are super-tanks that eventually gain intelligence greater than humankind. But they are programmed for war with a strong sense of honor and are sympathetic characters. Kinda far out stuff. All are available from Baen as digital editions. Many have been out of print for a while.

While Compleat Bolo is a collection of Laumer's stories, the later books are written by different authors. Both are very uneven but have an interesting spark. I liked the epistolary format for two of the tales in Compleat Bolo.

[CuervoJoe]

I've just finished some Lovecraft books (Shadow Over Innsmouth, Call of Cthulhu), and am now reading The House On The Borderlands, by William Hope Hodgson (Written in 1906, he died in WWI :(, I think the world lost a splendid writer), it's excellent Lovecraftian horror, really, really well written.

[ColOfNature]

I just finished reading Blindsight by Peter Watts. It's licensed under Creative Commons, so there's no excuse for not going and reading it right this minute, sci-fi fans. It's grrrrrreat. I read it in a single sitting, which I rarely do any more.

[westyfield]

I just finished reading Blindsight by Peter Watts. It's licensed under Creative Commons, so there's no excuse for not going and reading it right this minute, sci-fi fans. It's grrrrrreat. I read it in a single sitting, which I rarely do any more.

Great Scott, one sitting? It took me a few days of solid reading to finish that one. Brilliant book though, everyone should read it.

I just finished Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds - absolutely amazing. The Revelation Space series and Blindsight are some of the best sci-fi I've ever read, and probably the best hard sci-fi.

[ColOfNature]

Alastair Reynolds is, to my mind, probably the best sci-fi author writing today. I did think while I was reading it that Blindsight read a bit like a Reynolds, with maybe a hint of Stephen Baxter. I'll have to go look up his other work to see if the comparison holds.

[Lukasz]

Today I downloaded Left Behind series (1-3) I don't think I can buy them anywhere in my country.

I heard about this series before and the premise seemed interesting so I finally decided to give it a try. I am only half way through the first book (reading on computer ain't that fun) but I love it. Exciting and makes you think. Few things are a bit dated of course (the book is 15 years old) but it does not lose the message. I hope the series continues to be as good as the first half of first book. Probably going to import it from USA or UK site.

[Cable]

right you've convinced me i'll go read blindsight. I'm also reading douglas adams' hitchiker's guide to the galaxy series and i'm currently on the 4th book of the trilogy. I think the best way to describe it is gloriously insane (or inane), i'm enjoying it though.

[Rii]

Still working on that Lovecraft fellow, also Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon.

Also today I ordered Mara Hvistendahl's Unnatural Selection after reading her piece in Foreign Policy magazine:

Then I looked into it, and discovered that what I thought were right-wing conspiracy theories about the nexus of Western feminism and population control actually had some, if very distant and entirely historical, basis in truth. As it turns out, Western advisors and researchers, and Western money, were among the forces that contributed to a serious reduction in the number of women and girls in the developing world.

[ford]

Reading Don Quixote for the first time, Edith Grossman's translation. At first the prospect of reading Don Quixote seemed incredibly daunting, but I've been loving it so far. It's by far the most clever book I've read.

[Xercies]

@Cable

I think your going to be surprised about the 5th book especially after the 4th one the tones are so wildly different they could be made by a different author.

[Donjonson]

Reading Neuromancer again, seein as I'm playing DE:HR...

[ColOfNature]

Glasshouse by Charlie Stross. Not as easy to read as his other stuff, but probably the deepest in terms of themes. Things like identity, conformity, peer pressure, gender, domestic violence, religion. You know, all that good stuff.

[icupnimpn2]

@Cable

I think your going to be surprised about the 5th book especially after the 4th one the tones are so wildly different they could be made by a different author.

I don't remember much about the 5th book at this point except having been turned off by it when I was 11 years olf.

Has anyone read the 6th book done by the author of Artemis Fowl? I've flipped through it in a store but felt like it was the silly parts without any of the insightful, biting cynicism. Maybe that's just my bias against any writer trying to fill Adams' shoes, but what I read didn't ring true or at least didn't excite me.

[Cable]

@Xercies
I think the 5th book was written much later than the first four so that could make sense. I look forward to being surprised.

@icupnimpn2
I haven't read it but my 2 cents would be that I really like eoin colfer but i guess i don't see the point in him trying to write someone else's books or at least in his style. Surely everyone should just write their own things? or was it a money grab?

[icupnimpn2]

Who can truly comprehend another man's heart? I think Adams influenced a generation or two and Colfer may be an honest fan. I've never read Artemis Fowl. Is there enough in it for adults to stay interested? As a low-water mark, I'm not very impressed with Harry Potter.

[Xercies]

Its actually pretty decent, the first book is really quite good. It is a bit kiddy yes I have to say but the characters are pretty good and as a teenager the fact that the title chaarcter was actually the villian was quite novel in my eyes.

Has anyone read the 6th book done by the author of Artemis Fowl? I've flipped through it in a store but felt like it was the silly parts without any of the insightful, biting cynicism. Maybe that's just my bias against any writer trying to fill Adams' shoes, but what I read didn't ring true or at least didn't excite me.

I kind of liked it, it doesn't have totally the greatness of what Douglas Adams does and it doesn't really have much silly Hitch hiker guide notes which were a delight. But its still quite entertainingly funny, just pretend that its in an alternative universe to the others and I think you will enjoy it.

I think the 5th book was written much later than the first four so that could make sense.

Yeah it makes sense, something must have happened to him as well because lets just say the whole book is pretty bleak and depressing.