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Trainee PornStar posted:I gave up on book 2 as well. Thank you, this is the motivation I needed to stop and maybe come back to it another time. The philosophical posturing feels boring and empty, and any additional mystery around the aliens doesn’t have much draw anymore. Such a shame.
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May 2, 2023 01:47
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I just finished reading my daughter The Last Stop On Market Street, and this is one of the best ones we've ever read. Not that she knows, because she fell asleep.
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May 2, 2023 02:08
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Andy Weir - Project Hail Mary First book of his I read, and I loved it. Devoured it in two days. For someone who's accustomed to denser scifi like Banks/Reynolds/etc, this was a very light read. Perfect for the first really nice days of spring. The story is straightforward enough, but fun and with enough twists to keep it interesting beyond *problem arises, has to be fixed*. I liked that the flashbacks were functional in a way where the reader knows as much as the character does. While at times a bit dense with the science, it served a purpose and Weir did a great job at communicating it in a the way a high school teacher would (heh), which combined with his direct, conversational style made it very accessible. My mom wants to practice her English and is interested in expanding her horizons and I recommended this as the perfect first step into scifi for her. Also, major spoiler: Rocky was great. The whole first contact bit was really well done, and he's alien enough to not feel like just a reskinned human, but also has enough of a personality to become a good character. A great book that was exactly what I thought it would be. Not mind blowing or exceptional, but tons of fun and definitly worth my time. 8/10
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May 2, 2023 10:47
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Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. In this one Chuck decided to try out magical realism and he really shouldn't have done that, spells and witchcraft do not fit his style. His worst novel that I have read so far.
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May 2, 2023 22:15
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Gleisdreieck posted:Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. In this one Chuck decided to try out magical realism and he really shouldn't have done that, spells and witchcraft do not fit his style. His worst novel that I have read so far. The only Palahniuk I ever read. I just remember the ending being so mean spirited and gross that I just never wanted to touch another of his works again.
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May 2, 2023 22:17
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Chain-Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjel-Brenyah Picked it up in an airport, as it was well-regarded and intrigued me. gently caress, is it a heavy book. A searing sci-fi indictment of the for-profit prison system in the US, and the dehumanizing effects it has especially for POC and other marginalized groups. There are footnotes spread throughout that tie events in the book to real-life people, statutes, and statistics. You get used to reading these, and then one of them during a torture scene just says "Don't look down. Help me. Please. Help me." I found myself disengaging a few times and reading with an (admittedly cowardly) clinical detachment. It's pretty damning imo that this book and this author's previous works have had such an intense impact on, say, the NYT book reviewers by taking real problems that real people face and dressing it in fiction to make it more palatable to a disinterested public. CW: Racism, graphic violence, torture, sexual violence and rape (discussed but not depicted), homophobia, biphobia, transphobia
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May 3, 2023 03:13
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Gleisdreieck posted:Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. In this one Chuck decided to try out magical realism and he really shouldn't have done that, spells and witchcraft do not fit his style. His worst novel that I have read so far. Wait, "magical realism" has spells and witchcraft now 
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May 3, 2023 14:43
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Angel's Ink by Jocelynn Drake: An urban fantasy novel where warlocks and witches view the rest of the world as bugs to play / experiment with and people live in constant fear of them. We follow Gage, the only known warlock to escape that world alive and who actually cares about other living beings. Gage now runs a tattoo parlor where he infuses potions into the ink to imbue certain temporary gifts into the recipient. The story very quickly throws Gage into a whole mess of interconnected poo poo that is only partially resolved (it's a series). The author does a great job building the world, and while Gage is an rear end in a top hat with a short temper that is the reason for his mess, you can still see his compassion for his friends. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville: I read this with my 7yo daughter. I was a huge Coville fan as a kid and wanted to try something with her. I never read The Magic Shop series, so this was new for both of us. I appreciate good explanations for the rules of a world so I can understand it better, but like most kids books, this one sorely lacks in that department. The incessant "girls are gross" mantra of a 6th grade boy annoyed me. Overall, though, it's good for a kids book, and we enjoyed reading it together.
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May 3, 2023 17:01
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The Unforgiven, by C. L. Clark. Sequel to The Unbroken that I finished last week, this book is a noteworthy step up in quality of writing. If you liked the first book, this one's better. Unfortunately, it's also lead me to conclude that I sadly don't think I like these books very much, and the reason for that is that I find the protagonists to all be unlikeable assholes. I've never been so depressed to see the protagonists of an LGBT love story get together, because they're both terrible people who consistently make each other worse and lead to disaster for everyone around them. I get that Clark's going for, and executing well, a low fantasy vibe heavily inspired by real life colonial empires and dynamics of race, class, and power, but by the end of this book I was kind of rooting for the magic Black Death.
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May 4, 2023 13:03
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Louisgod posted:Finished The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu the other day and overall, I'm very disappointed. The first 75% of the book was extremely intriguing; the mystery behind the phenomenon was unique and kept me wanting more, and the concept behind the three-body problem and its implementation in the VR world was a ton of fun to read about. But, once the curtain behind its origin was revealed, it began to fall apart. What really ruined the book for me though was the last 25%, which I can only describe as "exposition overload". How the characters tackled how to disable the boat was completely ruined by them explaining exactly what they were going to do, removing any suspense or emotional impact well in advance; the author would've been better served to leave what was going to happen up in the air and reveal it as it happened. Since he didn't, the event itself lost any 'oof' and was uneventful, at best. The imagery of the event was super cool, though. People loved The Three Body Problem, but it seemed so much like an old style SF novel to me. Cardboard figures, exposition dumps, masses of worldbuilding and people explaining things to each other. The conundrum spoilered above is a prime example: here we have a problem. How fortunate that we have a character that has the exact (technological) solution for it and it works perfectly. In fact, that thinly-drawn character is in the story seemingly just to provide that solution.
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May 4, 2023 13:58
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See tbh I enjoyed it because it reminded me of old school science fiction. Like, cardboard thin characters keep reading their lines in order to illustrate interesting ideas. I don't know, I found the ideas interesting haha. But no shade to those who disliked/hated it. I dread to see how any future tv adaption copes with a lot of the paper thinness of it.
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May 4, 2023 14:14
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Lampsacus posted:See tbh I enjoyed it because it reminded me of old school science fiction. Like, cardboard thin characters keep reading their lines in order to illustrate interesting ideas. I don't know, I found the ideas interesting haha. Yeah that’s how I felt as well. The second one is particularly bad, imo
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May 4, 2023 16:19
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Hello book thread, just dropping in as I was lurking to get me back into reading which has worked well - so thanks. Also - interesting hearing the differing opinions re Three Body Problem series. I've almost finished the Dark Forest (second book) and yeah, quite hard to get through at times. The "romance" plot was particularly egregious (isnt it always) and yes it does feel quite tacked together at various points. Having said that I've been really enjoying them and the world building while intensely expositional, is pretty cool and I'm enjoying being able to turn my brain off and get stuck into my imagination.
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May 4, 2023 16:51
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I'll caveat that there are absolutely old school SF books with 1 dimensional characters info-dumping furiously at each other that I love. TBP just isn't one of them. I wonder if it reads better in Chinese. I found the Cultural Revolution part the most interesting.
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May 4, 2023 17:09
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I liked TBP okay and then just couldn't get through much of the second book. 
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May 4, 2023 17:29
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I don't mind exposition dumps but the way TBP handled it was not only dry, but it was done in a stale, almost dry government Q&A press release way as opposed to a slow uncurling of the mysterious layers. Throw in drab and uninteresting characters and it all you're left with is the scientific reasoning behind the plot points, which is interesting but can't hold up everything. Speaking of old school sci-fi, I pivoted toward The Mote in God's Eye and am having a blast with it so far. It reads like an old Star Trek episode and if you can get past the 70s casual misogyny (really frustrating) and male centric councils and crew, you discover tight writing and fun character interactions. Only 75/550 pages in and it's already getting to the heart of the story. Looking forward to posting my thoughts once I'm done.
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May 4, 2023 17:49
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Another big problem with the TBP series is that the underlying philosophy of different planets could never work together is just negative and boring. I recommend folks spoil themselves on the ending of the 3rd book, because it is dumb. I just finished Railsea, an unexpectedly light, fun, weird book from China Mieville. Really fun to read, and a book worth thinking about. I was expecting it to be Moby Dick with trains, but outside one long running joke it was really a lot more than that. I'm a big fan of how Mieville has a talent for creating worlds that are larger than their stories. I finished his The Scar earlier, and I forgot how dark that book gets, so Railsea was an extra breath of fresh air, much more of an adventure than a gothic power struggle.
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May 5, 2023 01:43
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I finished Time of Contempt in the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski. While I loved the third game and enjoyed the first short story collection. I haven't found of the series proper to be as enjoyable. It feels very dry and straight forward in its pose. I'll read through the next book since I have it, but won't continue the series after that.
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May 5, 2023 09:12
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StumblyWumbly posted:I just finished Railsea, an unexpectedly light, fun, weird book from China Mieville. Really fun to read, and a book worth thinking about. I'm currently reading Perdido Street Station by the same author, which is weird and grim, and I'm really liking it.
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May 5, 2023 14:28
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A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology by Mike Rinder. A memoir that follows Rinder from when he was six years old and his parents joined scientology, and thus put Rinder and his siblings in scientology's "cadet corps", to his time in the Sea Org (which makes its members sign a billion year contract, hence this book's title) and working on the Apollo during the Hubbard era. It goes on to detail Rinder's rise in the ranks and how he worked to bring in various celebrities and help get scientology's tax exempt status, but still ended up in the cross-hairs of David Miscavige and spent some time in "The Hole", scientology's private prison, and how he left in 2007 at the age of 52. In the rest of the book Rinder talks his life after scientology and his efforts to expose the cult's abuses, as well as his harassment at the hands of the cult for his efforts. I had read other works on scientology before so I was somewhat familiar with various aspects of the cult and some of the terminology (Rinder also has a helpful glossary of terms at the end of the book). What I found most interesting was Rinder's explanations on why it's so hard to leave scientology as well as why someone would allow themselves to be treated the way scientology treated Rinder.
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May 5, 2023 19:20
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The_Other posted:I had read other works on scientology before so I was somewhat familiar with various aspects of the cult and some of the terminology (Rinder also has a helpful glossary of terms at the end of the book). What I found most interesting was Rinder's explanations on why it's so hard to leave scientology as well as why someone would allow themselves to be treated the way scientology treated Rinder.
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May 5, 2023 19:26
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Boco_T posted:I know there are a bunch and I have several in my own backlog, but would you say this is the definitive pick out of the ones you've read? I wouldn't say this is the definitive book on scientology, if only because it focuses on Rinder's life and only talks about the history and beliefs of the cult as it pertains to his experiences. At the same time it's not a bad book to start with and Rinder does give a list of recommended further reading at the end, listing several books I've read. The ones I remember reading are: A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed by Jon Atack (1990) Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard by Russell Miller (1987) Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright (2013) Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion by Janet Reitman (2011) Again, these are the ones I remember reading, but it's been so long I couldn't tell you if one is better than the others. I also read a lot about the cult over the years on Tony Ortega's website The Underground Bunker, although a few months ago he moved it behind substack. Ortega also wrote The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology Tried to Destroy Paulette Cooper, which is also recommend by Rinder. Finally I recently listed to a podcast Rinder did with Andrew Gold's On The Edge. Here's the Youtube link. Rinder's blog is here. Sorry for the long post.
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May 6, 2023 01:27
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I'd throw in a vote for Robert Kaufman's Inside Scientology: How I Joined Scientology and Became Superhuman from 1972, which was a good read.
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May 6, 2023 01:31
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Is Rinder the one who was informed, while he was being sued, that he was the number 3 person in the Scientology, and that was the first he’d heard that?
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May 6, 2023 02:26
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lifg posted:Is Rinder the one who was informed, while he was being sued, that he was the number 3 person in the Scientology, and that was the first he’d heard that? Probably? I don't remember him stating it like that, but he was the head of scientology's Office of Special Affairs (the department of scientology that deals with governments, media, and "enemies") and most likely the cult sued him after he left, since as member of the Sea Org he received scientology courses and services for free, thus anyone who leaves is hit with a "Freeloaders Bill" (never mind the years of time and labor Rinder gave to the cult as a member).
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May 6, 2023 03:11
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A series of Ursula Vernon romances adventure stories - The Raven and the Reindeer, the Saint of Steel trilogy, the Clocktaur Wars and Swordhart. Burned through these more or less instantly, which was probably a bad idea in retrospect. Diminishing returns in terms of humor, story structure and quirks. R&R are probably the best of the lot (or I'm just suffering from duckling syndrome \ my love for the little robber girl is telling), Swordhart had probably the most "typical" Vernon \ Kingfisher humor, Clocktaur wars was just dull af. Paladins don't make for great romantic interests, not even raging berserker paladins (that don't actually ever hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it). I'm echoing Disco Elysium's protagonist, which probably (definitely) means I'm not coming at this from a healthy place, but what about a romance story about people who are actually wrong for each other and the issue isn't merely with the two protagonists overcoming misunderstandings and internal insecurity to fall into each other's arms?
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May 7, 2023 12:40
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The Invention Of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk Author's most recent book and a great read. Gone are the philosophical detours of his earlier works which I found to be a good thing. There are two parallel plotlines narrated in third-person about a bereaved father and a masochistic recording artist mired in a world of sorrow. The stories merge in the last part of the book for a satisfying finale. As the title implies, it's also about sound. Palahniuk has researched the subject thoroughly and I Ioved reading all about it.
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May 7, 2023 13:07
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This thread really loves Palahniuk, huh
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May 7, 2023 16:10
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Like Tarantino, you either like the Palahniuk style or you don’t It’s like reading different books of the Bible. Yeah they’re different but are they really?
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May 7, 2023 16:18
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oldpainless posted:Like Tarantino, you either like the Palahniuk style or you don’t Yeah, it's an addiction at this point. I just want another hit, a pressing need to scratch that Palahniuk itch.
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May 7, 2023 16:49
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I’ve never read any Palahniuk and only saw Fight Club once twenty years ago. What would be a good one to start with?
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May 7, 2023 17:05
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I just want that motherfucker to finally write the other two Rant books he promised 16 years ago
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May 7, 2023 18:40
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oldpainless posted:Like Tarantino, you either like the Palahniuk style or you don’t So... does he or doesn't he
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May 7, 2023 20:51
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boquiabierta posted:I’ve never read any Palahniuk and only saw Fight Club once twenty years ago. What would be a good one to start with? His short story collections Make Something Up or Haunted. I've only read the former, I'm guessing the latter is similar. Should acquaint you with Palahniuk's style.
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May 7, 2023 21:09
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3D Megadoodoo posted:So... does he or doesn't he Yes
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May 7, 2023 23:17
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Xander77 posted:A series of Ursula Vernon romances adventure stories - The Raven and the Reindeer, the Saint of Steel trilogy, the Clocktaur Wars and Swordhart. All of her stuff as Kingfisher, I feel is really excellent. I was thinking about grabbing some of her other stuff, but I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on that.
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May 8, 2023 02:24
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Leave posted:All of her stuff as Kingfisher, I feel is really excellent. I was thinking about grabbing some of her other stuff, but I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on that.
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May 8, 2023 08:50
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Xander77 posted:what about a romance story about people who are actually wrong for each other You mean marriage?
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May 8, 2023 09:22
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Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey is an interesting book that I want to like. It's a sci-fi book with the premise that interstellar travel hasn't happened. What has happened is interdimensional travel between countless alternate versions of Earth, countless sentient races that evolved from all manner of sources and came to be known as humans. And into this multiverse stumbles a scientist from an Earth dying of ecological collapse, desperately looking for a way to save her world. Unfortunately from my perspective, most of the book is spent ignoring the interesting possibilities raised by this premise and instead tells a pretty rote organics vs AIs story, leaning on the latter as alien rather than malevolent and playing up the idea that organics are just as unfathomably alien to it as it is to organics. It's a well-told story, but it's also one that I've read before and has nothing to do with the premise that I found so intriguing, at least not so far. Then the book abruptly stops on a cliffhanger and tells you to be ready for the sequel. It's not a bad book, but not what I thought I was checking out from the library. Perhaps the sequel will make better use of the premise rather than acting like a normal space opera with teleportation in place of FTL travel.
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May 10, 2023 01:40
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Geometry For Ocelots by exurb1a - A sci-fi-ish space opera that starts with beef between demi-gods and ultimately spirals into war between a society driven by science/technology and a society driven by religion. The book is fast paced and a fun read, but not really too substantive in my opinion. The major theme of the book is that societies which fail to moderate themselves will ultimately expand to their own demise - that resources even at a galactic scale can/will be mined to exhaustion by such a society. Termed "the bivnik effect" in the book, this idea is the spark that ignites the war between the two factions (because one side does not want to acknowledge it as truth). There's lots of drinking and the characters to me felt kind of flat and cartoonish. Overall not a terrible read but nothing really to write home about.
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May 10, 2023 18:51
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