I am working my way through the Culture series by Iain M. Banks. I'm on The State of the Art which is an anthology. All of the books up to this point have been EXCELLENT, especially Use of Weapons which is one of the best science fiction books I've ever read. Usually with the space opera genre and perhaps sci-fi in general, you land somewhere on a sliding scale between imaginative concepts and good writing, but Banks is one of the few that hits top marks in both areas.
this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2024
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That's an interesting concept. Though they synopsis just reminded me of a horror-ish short story I read about similar topic, so not happy about that.
There's a black Mirror episode where they make a cookie and the make it into the brain of a smart home / assistant of their real self. Don't remember the episode, but a horrific concept considering how they make the cookie comply by essentially torturing it.
Just finished Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, and haven't picked out what I'm reading next.
I think this is one of those I should have dropped rather than power through. I liked the story, but the writing style just wasn't for me: poetic, but verbose verging on purple, imo. Is all his work like this? I vaguely remember reading "There Will Come Soft Rains" a long time ago, but I don't remember how it was written. Also, I thought this was going to be Halloween-related, but it really isn't.
Bingo squares: Older Than You Are (1962), Family Drama, (maybe) Plays With Words, Bookception (hard), Now a Major Motion Picture, It's About Time, (alt) A Change in Perspective.
That first Passage book starts out so strong, and then just changes to a completely different (and far less interesting) book about 1/3 of the way in. It’s bizarre. I’m surprised you decided to read the sequel. Book one just felt like the publisher pushed Cronin to write a lame walking dead rip off.
I just finished Lessons in Chemistry. It started of a little dark but quickly turns into a roller coaster slice of life novel that secretly weaves a series of plot points before coming to a heartwarming end.
I am starting Meditations by Marcus Aurelius with annotations for context.
I’ll probably also read a second lighter book in-between sections of Meditation cuz it’s a dense book.
The Twisted Ones.
Not a huge fan of how this author writes, but I think it's an interesting enough mystery so far.
I had similar issues with The Hollow Places, and it put me off reading any more of her horror titles. I do like T. Kingfisher's fairy tale-inspired stuff, however; that kind of voice meshes a lot better with that genre, imo.
I may have to give that a try after this one. Thanks for the heads up, 👍🏾
Do RPG and skirmish games rulebooks count? If so, I'm currently spending time with Basic Role Playing and Runequest 6ed (planning a hack/homebrew/adaptation of Elder Scrolls), plus Moonstone (Goblin King Games), Conquest (Parabellum) and Warsurge on the skirmish front.
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I'm reading the Silmarillion, so I can be madder at Rings of Power
How do you keep all the name straight? I have tried couple of times but that's where I got lost. Have been planning to start again, and make a relationship / characters chart as I go along, so that I can remember who's who.
Full disclosure I'm actually listening to the audiobook version read by Martin Shaw. Mostly I've just been going with it, important characters are repeated over and over, less important ones are not. The hard part is not googling names and reading spoilers haha
Heh. Nice!
Just started Blindsight by Peter Watts. Haven't gotten far yet, but so far it seems interesting
Fiction: Currently reading "The empty chair" from the Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffery Deaver. I am liking it so far and it is good distraction.
Non fiction: "The psychedelic explorer's guide. Safe, therapeutic and sacred journeys" by James Fadiman. Some I like, some I don't but it is interesting learning about somebody else's experience.
Just started with Scalzi's Starter Villain. No opinion yet. But it's short, so I should have one soon.
I just started Alaska by James Michener today. It's very good so far! I am considering rereading The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann after this. Nothing cozier than a nice delve into a good long story.
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