Anubiel Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 I just finished 'Winterbirth', which I liked a lot, though it took me some time to figure out who all the different thanes were and what the black road was. Maybe I'm just daft. I've now started 'Making Money', and it's making me laugh a lot, which is all I'm after when it comes to Pratchett! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 beniowa That sounds like an interesting collection, could you elaborate and go into some detail about what the various stories are about? This will give me more of an idea about whether or not I want to buy this and there have been very few review on the net sofar. Calibandar, there are eleven stories and they've been arranged so they're chronological from beginning to end. The stories cover a fair range of ideas. The first is a first contact situation. Another is about the birth of an alien written language. One story deals with a character's decision to abide by the Guild's neutrality or her own morality concerning two different alien races. Three more deal with the consequences of a virus found on another world. One of the creepier stories is about the dangers of dealing with a race that looks human but is not human at all. I hope this helps. I'm not surprised at the lack of reviews. Note that I said there were only 2000 printed so there probably aren't very many that know about the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Still, you're doing the right thing in the sense of reading intelligent representatives of both sides of the debate. Brilliant books. Unfortunately I am lacking the patience and time to read it cover to cover, so I am reduced to reading bits and pieces of both books. Chapters that I like and so forth. Pinker actually had 2 pages of complimentary things to say about GG and S, so I wasnt sure if there was any disagreement there. Also, some surprises in The Blank Slate where Pinker was talking about race-based differences in IQ (at least in the US). He was willing to allow cultural effects for it, which I found interesting. But anyways....slow going on both books still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikingBeard Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 I'm almost done A Clash of Kings. Less than 200 pages left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 so I wasnt sure if there was any disagreement there. There is in the sense that GG&S is a darling of the "culture-only" crowd, while Pinker is the darling of the "genes expressed in environments" crowd. These two crowds are very much hostile to each other. GG&S very much tries to answer the question "Why did the left win" by only appealing to the environment. Also, some surprises in The Blank Slate where Pinker was talking about race-based differences in IQ (at least in the US). He was willing to allow cultural effects for it, which I found interesting. I have never seen anybody, including the authors of The Bell Curve claim that there should be no cultural effect on IQ. That would be extremely silly. (Of course, the opposite stance—that culture is the only explanation—is equally silly, but that doesn't prevent people from agreeing with it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Ah yes, I should have been clearer about the exact phrase. I'll quote below verbatim "...My own view, incidentally, is that in the case of the most discussed racial difference - the black-white gap in the United States - the current evidence does not call for a genetic explanation. " Then he goes on to mention other groups for whom the IQ difference, as large as the black-white gap, disappeared in a few generations. But " ...For many reasons, the experience of African Americans in the United States under slavery and segregation is not comparable to those of immigrants or rural isolates, and their transition to mainstream cultural patterns could easily take longer". I guess the part about "no genetic explanation necessary" was surprising. Anways, there are a lot of interesting theories in the book. Like the one about how it is possible Afro-Americans in inner cities obtained their "culture of honor" from Southern males through mass migrations to cities post World Wars. I am new to reading about this stuff, so its hard to gauge how strong the evidence is for many theories. But the book has been good so far. Anyway, I'll quit threadjacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammerOfGod Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I am re-listerning to {The Wheel of Time} I am a third of the way through {Lord Of Chaos} one of the greatest books ever written... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat5150 Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Finished Brandon Sanderson's The Well of Ascension, and that book didn't do it for me. Feels like an average YA novel at times, and I was just going through the motions for the last 250 pages or so. Lots of filler and no killer... The full review is coming up. I'm almost done with William Gibson's Spook Country, which is interesting. You never really know what it's all about, but the story slowly creeps up on you. It's pretty weird, actually! Next up could be Ellen Kushner's The Privilege of the Sword or David Anthony Durham's Acacia... Hey, the Montreal Canadiens won their season opener! Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneeye Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I just finished winterbirth which was decent I'm trying wayfarer's redemption now by sara douglas but it's eh so far. amazon.de just sent an email that world without end is on route sweeeet ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deornoth Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 Just spent the last couple of days reading 'MAD About Star Wars', a collection of MAD Magazine 'Star Wars Parodies' from the last thirty years. It's hit and miss in places but on the whole very funny, made me laugh anyway! Have a read of my review Here. Still plodding my way through 'Witch Ember'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercept Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Rereading Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee. He's my personal hero, which is why I honor him with this avatar. Mr. Lee's cinema career always overshadows the deep writings he poured out as a thinker. He was a Philosophy major at the University of Washington, and when he near fatally injured his spine and almost became paralyzed, he did nothing but read and write for the entire time he was in a wheelchair. He never stopped living, thinking and breathing martial arts... And he had alot of interesting things to say about life in general, too. So I reread Tao every once in a while to keep those things in memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maester Joergensen Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 After that I'm reading Making Money by Terry Pratchett, who I met last night and who signed my book I also have The Science of Discworld III waiting for me. Hey wait a minute Ollie. Were did you just bumb into Terry Pratchett. Also, I am reading "Winged Pharao" by Joan Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turinqui-Calima Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Were did you just bumb into Terry Pratchett. Barnes and Nobles, Union Square, NYC. He did some Q&A and signed Making Money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betrayer of hope Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Currently reading Night Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko. Pretty good, although it took a little getting into. Nice pacing, and the magical concepts are pretty nice. I especially like the three levels of twilight. But it doesnt really seem to be destined to be in the top-ten list. Possibly it got over-hyped for me, I guess. Finally started Lies of Locke Lamora , and it looks every bit as promising as the board made it out to be . Only into the first 100 odd pages though, hope the level doesnt fall anytime soon. Finished Season of Mists, Sandman no.4. Awesome! The meeting between the Endless was so awesome(but then, it was pretty obvious it was going to be, when its the Endless who are involved ). I need to get A Game of You as soon as possible. The Sandman rocks!!! Will start The Undercover Economist soon, as soon as I finish Night Watch. I've been waiting to read this book for a long time, ever since Levitt said its "required reading". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davos Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Currently reading Broken Angles by Richard K Morgan. Good stuff though its not quite as good as the first Takeshi Kovaks novel. I've been stuck on it a while, not because I'm not enjoying it, but because between being busy at work and my Civ4 addiction I haven't had much reading time. I'm almost done though and its getting better by the page. Morgan just plain can write. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revie Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I've now started 'Making Money', and it's making me laugh a lot, which is all I'm after when it comes to Pratchett! Yes, if I don't have some laugh-out-loud moments while reading a Pratchett book, I start to worry. I just finished Making Money, and all-in-all I felt it wasn't his best effort, but a fun read nonetheless. I'm partial to his stories that focus on the Night Watch, and in this one they are just peripheral characters. I'm trying to read all the Tiffany Aching series, and am waiting for Wintersmith to come in at the library. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maester Joergensen Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Barnes and Nobles, Union Square, NYC. He did some Q&A and signed Making Money. Ahh yes. Forgot that you were in NY. Thought he had been to Malmø. If he had been just across the water, I would have wanted to have some of my stuff signed to. Starting "Lies of Lock Lamora" very soon. Looking extremely forward to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talyn Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I just finished Bloodmind by Liz Williams the sequel to Darkland. I enjoyed reading the book but I felt that it wasn't as good as it could have been. The characters didn't feel as if they were developed enough and the ending left some of my questions unanswered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Just finished reading Hunter's Run by los tres amigos. Enjoyed it an awful lot. Strange because most of the time I really disliked the main character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaldanya Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I am reading In the Shadow of Lady Jane by Edward Charles (a historical fiction novel peopled with mary stu's and sues) and The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko (and invigorating read, can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the trilogy) N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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