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*February Reading Thread*


Ser Barry

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Isis,

Bibliomancy can be found at £35 at PS Publishing site, here. In fact, Clarkesworld Books offers it at $42, which is not that bad considering the book's quality but I will agree that it's still expensive.

Saffron and Brimstone make a very good alternative to Bibliomancy, it has three of the original stories, plus some more, and the only one that it's missing can be found in the net. A great book.

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haven't started anything yet, but picked up the months reading last night.

1. you suck by christopher moore- this guys book are the p00p. its the sequel to an earlier novel called bloodsucking fiends: a love story and it was capital.

2. perdido street station by china mieville- alot of you say this is good.

3. death note vol. 9- so far, this is easily one of the top 5 manga i've ever read. if you are into manga, i can't recommend this book highly enough.

4. breakfast of champions by kurt vonnegut- steadily making my way through his work. i'm steadily reaffirming that minimalist storytelling is the best.

5. the illuminatus! trilogy by RAW- this will be a reread but i just had to have a copy of my own.

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At the moment I'm reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I'm only 2 chapters in and finding it hard to get into. I guess maybe because the main character is annoying the hell out of me so far.

After that, I had scheduled a re-read of A Game of Thrones. I couldn't wait to finish Catch-22 though, so I've already read about a 100 pages.

Then I have The Stand by Stephen King on standby for when I've finished them two books.

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At the moment I'm reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I'm only 2 chapters in and finding it hard to get into. I guess maybe because the main character is annoying the hell out of me so far.
I found it hilarious and pretty easy to read for the most part. It was waaaay easier to read than Accelerandro anyway. ;)
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Cry Havoc!: The Crooked Road to Civil War by Charles Lankford. It's about the political twists and turns taken by both sides after Lincoln's inaguration and before the war really drew first blood.

The Terror by Dan Simmons. A historical fiction/thriller set on the doomed ships of the Franklin expidition to find the Northwest passage.

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I just finished China Mieville's Scar. While I miss the streets of New Crobuzon and mostly agree with the criticisms about both books endings, Mieville's writing is a pleasure to read. I love how there is no world map in this volume, and instead the reader must rely solely on the author's words. As a result the half-mystical realms seem truly mysterious, rather than point x,y on a picture. I'll be starting Maelstorm by Peter Watts today, and after that, Children of Dune.

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At the moment I'm reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I'm only 2 chapters in and finding it hard to get into. I guess maybe because the main character is annoying the hell out of me so far.

I had trouble getting into it at first as well, but by the end, I absolutely loved it. I haven't re-read it yet, but it seems like a book that will only get better with re-reads.

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Read:

The Ruins by Scott Smith: Mediocre horror novel set in the jungles of Mexico. Very repetitive and boring scenes. Missing a sense of dread. Never scary and the writing is pretty bad.

The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson: Solid kick ass sword and sorcery epic fantasy. The only complaint I have is Erikson has to get rid of some bloat. Some judicious editing and this would have been 5 star entertainment instead of the 4 I would give it.

Now Reading:

Headhunter by Michael Slade: Very violent very grisly murder mystery. Has a grindhouse flavor to it.

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I found it hilarious and pretty easy to read for the most part. It was waaaay easier to read than Accelerandro anyway. ;)

That's faint praise, I've read science texbooks that were easier to read than Accelerando. I think some of them may have had better characterisation and plotting as well ;)

(OK, it wasn't quite as bad as that)

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Claudius the God by Robert Graves

The Briar King by Greg Keyes

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Next up on my pile are:

The Terror by Dan Simmons

and when it arrives from amazon

Before they are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

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The Knight by Gene Wolfe - a reread in preparation to finally starting the Wizard.

Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett - typical Dennett, that is to say, at times absolutely brilliant, but I don't think it will fulfill its lofty premise.

Up next:

The Wizard by Gene Wolfe

Something Space Opera-y.

Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan

Hidden Iran by Ray Takeyh

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I finished up The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin the other day.

I must say I was rather disapointed. For a book that won the Hugo and Nebula awards I was completely underwhelmed. It just didnt hold my interest. Conceptually it was pretty good. But the plot was nothing special, and the characters were by and large pretty blah.

Just finished this also and I'm inclined to agree with you. The writing is very good but it didn't resonate with me as I'd hoped. No doubt the biggest hurdle was trying to imagine an androgynous poeple on an ice age planet. The best I could imagine is a cross between an Inuit and one of the Founders from StarTrek DS9.

Also finished listening to the AGOT Audio Book as read by Roy Avers (this counts as a read right? First reread at that).

Currently reading the Orson Scott Card novella The Grinning Man, in the Legends Anthology. It's great to read these short stories in between full novels (even the Terry Goodkind tale read before this one wasn't bad).

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Finished up Infoquake by Davis Louis Edelman. Stego described it as Neuromancer meets Wall Street, and damn if I can think up a better analogy. Its very fast paced, but the action is much more cerebral than shoot em car chase explositons. I really enjoyed it. Pyr seems to have signed a great stable of talent, and Edelman is near the top.

Full review

Started in on Howard Who? by Howard Waldrop. Its a short story collection and I got two read last night. The second one had some German name, that I dont know what it meant. I have no idea what was going on, but it was immensely entertaining none the less.

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