Doppelganger Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 [quote name='Vethnar' post='1601709' date='Nov 27 2008, 23.11']I agree. What a weird list: It doesn't even mention [i]The Ancestor's Tale[/i], which rivals [i]The Blind Watchmaker[/i] as my favorite Dawkins book.[/quote] The Ancestor's Tale is absolutely phenomenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 [quote name='Vethnar' post='1601909' date='Nov 27 2008, 22.07']By the way, please add me to the list of people who would love to see your Shortlist of Essential Pop-Sci Books.[/quote] [url="http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?s=&showtopic=3592&view=findpost&p=115104"][here][/url]. It has a strong biology bias (because I’m not a biologist.) Also, I guess the Simon Baron–Cohen isn’t really essential, so drop that from the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doppelganger Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 The Big Bang by Simon Singh is also an essential Pop-Sci read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 [quote name='Faulkner' post='1602267' date='Nov 28 2008, 13.20']The Big Bang by Simon Singh is also an essential Pop-Sci read.[/quote] And of course, [url="http://www.amazon.com/Fermats-Enigma-Greatest-Mathematical-Problem/dp/0385493622/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227880266&sr=1-2"]Fermat's Last Theorem[/url] by the same author... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Just wrapping up Cook's [i]A Fortress in Shadow[/i], an omnibus of the two Dread Empire prequels. Been a long, long time since I read either of these and I find myself amazed at how far Cook was ahead of his time. As well, his influence. The omnibus has an intro by Erikson, and I can see how Mocker served as the foundational inspiration for both Pust and Kruppe, though the latter definitely moreso. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Roses Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Anybody read Ian Mortimer's 'Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England'? Its got some positive reviews in the papers and I have some birthday vouchers to use up. Finally started Holland's 'Millennium'. Fascinating as always from Holland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Posted my review of Elias Khoury's excellent novel, [i]Yalo[/i] [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/elias-koury-yalo.html"]here[/url]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deornoth Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 I've just finished reading Brandon Sanderson's 'The Well of Ascension', second in the 'Mistborn' series and a big improvement on the first book as far as I was concerned. Have a look at my full review over [url="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com"]Here[/url]. I'll be reading 'The Hero of Ages' shortly but thought I'd have a go at Ian Graham's 'Monument' first... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duchess of malfi Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Just finished up [i]Un Lun Dun[/i] by China Meiville, and it is the first thing by that author that I have ever enjoyed. :) If nothing else, he stays away from the stomach churning and turning and hurling human/insect sex that he has in [i]Perdido Street Station[/i]. ;) :lol: In all seriousness, I did really enjoy it. :) If he ever writes other YA books I will gladly read them, though his books for adults are not my cup of tea. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Wednesday I finished [i][b]The Wolfman[/b][/i] by Nicholas Pekearo. [i]The Wolfman[/i] is basically a supernatural thriller and Pekearo's first published novel. It also happens to be his only published novel as the author died last year. The main character, Marlowe Higgins, is a man who is cursed to become a werewolf every full moon. The werewolf is a little different as it is essentially a supernatural monster that is a separate entity from the man himself and also must kill another human being while in it's wolf form. To salve his conscious, Marlowe has "trained" the monster to kill those who deserve it, those that he is convinced killed someone yet still escaped justice. In the book, he has a showdown with a serial killer that's been killing women across the country. I thought [i]The Wolfman[/i] has an interesting premise but I felt it was a little lacking. The author doesn't quite have the experience to make it better than average. Given the nature of the main character's curse as well as his past as a Vietnam vet, Marlowe has something of abrasive personality. However, I felt some of the character interactions were a little forced. Also, there isn't enough of a plot for this to be a full mystery novel. Much of the book is about the nature and Marlowe's struggle with his curse. The nature of the curse makes for a very gray character and the author brings up the point of how he is not so different from the serial killer. I wished Pekearo had expanded on that bit and he probably planned to with later novels that now will not be written. 7/10. Next I think I'll try [i][b]On Stranger Tides[/b][/i] by Tim Powers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deedles Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Just finished Butchers Princeps Fury. It was quite fun, in the way that all his Aleran books have been. Hardly high literature, but plenty of plot lines, a bit of excitement and the emphasis on thinking one's way out of situations. I liked it a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 [quote name='Faulkner' post='1602267' date='Nov 28 2008, 09.20']The Big Bang by Simon Singh is also an essential Pop-Sci read.[/quote] Man, oh man, what a GREAT book... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThRiNiDiR Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 [b]Stephenie Meyer [/b]- New Moon ([url="http://sf-fantasy-books.blogspot.com/2008/11/stephenie-meyer-new-moon-book-review.html"]review[/url]) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biter Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 I started reading Giles Foden's [i]Last King of Scotland[/i] a few days ago. So far I'm not that impressed, but that might change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barry Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 The Fade by Chris Wooding Borrowing heavily from many tropes and putting them together into an underground setting with two races at war this is a standard revenge tale told competently. I fail to see the need for the structure in which the tale moves in both directions chronologically telling the story of the protagonist from when we meet her. It felt awkward and unsubtle. The twist at the end was obvious. A solid OK for this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 Someone gave me [i]A Secret Atlas[/i] by Michael Stackpole, thinking I'd like it because it features cartographers, but 2/3 of the way in I'm unimpressed with the writing. It's like one thinly-veiled infodump after another. And the worldbuilding is like...look at me, I've done research, and I want to prove it. When one of the characters used the word 'neoteny' in conversation, for reals, I almost put down the book. (But not quite, because I'm a masochist.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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