Has anyone here read Steven Erikoson Malazan Fallen series? Just finshed the 5th book what a amazing read it's been can't believe I only came across it last month.
I've read the first three, but the back-to-back brutal endings of the 2nd and 3rd books put me off them for a bit. They're dense enough that it's been tough to get into the fourth much.
If you get dunked on in the dream, you get dunked on in real life
I've read the first three, but the back-to-back brutal endings of the 2nd and 3rd books put me off them for a bit. They're dense enough that it's been tough to get into the fourth much.
I'm still not over the ending of the 4th book that shit was upsetting. I love the density of the serie and it's vast array characters. Must admit took me awhile to get in the 5th one wasn't expecting that much of a different perspective.
They're really solid books, although 'dense' is definitely the right word for them. I've never read another series that throws you right into the middle of things as much as that one does; the first book reads like you managed to somehow skip the actual first couple. Everything in it holds together incredibly well, though.
A couple fun facts (entirely non-spoiler):
The 4th one has a bad ending too? Jebus.
Do any of the Malazan books have a happier ending?
If you get dunked on in the dream, you get dunked on in real life
The 4th one has a bad ending too? Jebus.
Do any of the Malazan books have a happier ending?
I should've been more specific when referring to the 4th book ending. I was talking about 2 certain characters otherwise I found it to be a satisfying ending. But the more I read about the 6th book I do get a bit more upset about it.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@Panda:
They're really solid books, although 'dense' is definitely the right word for them. I've never read another series that throws you right into the middle of things as much as that one does; the first book reads like you managed to somehow skip the actual first couple. Everything in it holds together incredibly well, though.
A couple fun facts (entirely non-spoiler):
- The books are actually based on a D&D campaign he did with some friends.
- Aside from being an author, he's an archaeologist and anthropologist, which shines through really clearly in how he does his world-building.
Have you just read the ten books in the main series?
I finally started reading The Left Hand of Darkness. I'd forgotten how dense Ursula K. LeGuin can be.
Have you just read the ten books in the main series?
Yeah, I haven't read any of the companion series done by his friend.
@Panda:
Yeah, I haven't read any of the companion series done by his friend.
Damn was hoping for your help placing them in the story.
I saw a trailer to that new movie doctor sleep, it's based off a steven king's novel, does anyone know what books of his you need to read to before hand to completely understand that movie/book? I know a lot of his stuff is connected, and it looks like at the very least you need to have read the shinning but I was wondering if there was anything else to read to get the big picture?
Damn was hoping for your help placing them in the story.
If you're still interested, I just stumbled across this recommended reading order (though it's worth noting, the person posting this said they didn't think the books by the other author were as good):
Gardens of the Moon (Steven Erikson)
Deadhouse Gates (Steven Erikson)
Memories of Ice (Steven Erikson)
House of Chains (Steven Erikson)
Midnight Tides (Steven Erikson)
Night of Knives (Ian Cameron Esslemont)
The Bonehunters (Steven Erikson)
Reaper's Gale (Steven Erikson)
Return of the Crimson Guard (Ian Cameron Esslemont)
Toll the Hounds (Steven Erikson)
Dust of Dreams (Steven Erikson)
Stonewielder (Ian Cameron Esslemont)
The Crippled God (Steven Erikson)
Also started reading Jane Austen's Persuasion on my phone, because I'm a shitty girl nerd if I don't read more Austen.
The Left Hand of Darkness took a little getting into, but now it is fascinating.
Also started reading Jane Austen's Persuasion on my phone, because I'm a shitty girl nerd if I don't read more Austen.
The Left Hand of Darkness took a little getting into, but now it is fascinating.
What's it about and how many books of it are out?
The Left Hand of Darkness is one book, although it's set in a sci-fi setting that LeGuin sets a lot of her books in. It's also considered her Grand Art.
Basically: Imagine a planet where it's Winter almost all year, and also where people have no set gender. They're ambisexual most of the time, then once a month they can choose whether to be male or female when procreating with each other. To them things like sexism means nothing. This and other things like a complicated social system are what a regular human man must deal with when he comes to the planet as an ambassador to try to get them to join the intergalactic community. He gets pulled into some political machinations, so he has to deal with that while trying to get through an immense cultural barrier.
@Panda:
If you're still interested, I just stumbled across this recommended reading order (though it's worth noting, the person posting this said they didn't think the books by the other author were as good):
Gardens of the Moon (Steven Erikson)
Deadhouse Gates (Steven Erikson)
Memories of Ice (Steven Erikson)
House of Chains (Steven Erikson)
Midnight Tides (Steven Erikson)
Night of Knives (Ian Cameron Esslemont)
The Bonehunters (Steven Erikson)
Reaper's Gale (Steven Erikson)
Return of the Crimson Guard (Ian Cameron Esslemont)
Toll the Hounds (Steven Erikson)
Dust of Dreams (Steven Erikson)
Stonewielder (Ian Cameron Esslemont)
The Crippled God (Steven Erikson)
Just finished RotCG last night definitely 1 of my favorites. Since SW is a few weeks after I decided to read it together with DoD.
I've been reading a lot of Brandon Sanderson's books lately. Currently on the second book of the Misborn series. Love it!
I'm still reading my way through Arabian Nights. This is the most metal thing I've ever read:
! These verses filled the King with wonder and delight,and he said to the eunuch, “Go to thy mistress, the Ladyof Beauty, and bid her come and amuse herself with thesight of this wonderful ape.” So the eunuch went out andpresently returned with the lady, who, when she saw me,veiled her face, and said, “O my father, how comes it thatthou art pleased to send for me and show me to strangemen?” “O my daughter,” said he, “there is none here savethe little slave and the eunuch who reared thee and myself,thy father. From whom then dost thou veil thy face?” Quoth she, “This that thou deemest an ape is a wiseand learned man, the son of a king; the Afrit Jerjis ofthe lineage of Iblis enchanted him thus, after putting todeath his own wife, the daughter of King Efitamous, Lord of the Ebony Islands.” At this the King wondered and turning to me, said, “Is this true that she says of thee?”And I signed with my head, as who should say, “Yes;” and wept. Then said he to his daughter, “Whence knewest thou that he was enchanted?” “O my father,” answered she, “there was with me, in my childhood, an old woman who was skilled in magic and taught me its rules and practice; and I became skilled therein and committed to memory a hundred and seventy magical formulas, by the least of which I could transport the stones of thy city behind the mountain Caf and make its site an abyss of thesea and its people fishes swimming in its midst.” “O mydaughter,” said her father, “I conjure thee, by my life, to disenchant this young man, that I may make him my Vizier, for he is a right pleasant and ingenious youth. “With all my heart,” replied she, and taking a knife, onwhich were engraved Hebrew characters, drew there with a circle in the midst of the hall and wrote there in namesand talismans and muttered words and charms, some of which we understood and others not. Presently the worlddarkened upon us, and the Afrit presented himself beforeus in his own shape and aspect, with hands like pitchforks,legs like masts and eyes like flames of fire. We wereaffrighted at him, but the princess said to him, “An illwelcome to thee, O dog!” Whereupon he took the formof a lion and said to her, “O traitress, thou hast brokenthy compact with me! Did we not swear that neither ofus should molest the other?” “O accursed one,” answered she, “how could there be a compact between me and thelike of thee?” “Then,” said he, “take what thou hastbrought on thyself.” And opening his mouth, rushed uponher: but she made haste and plucked a hair from her headand waved it in the air, muttering the while; and it at oncebecame a sharp sword, with which she smote the lion andcut him in two. His head became a scorpion, whereuponthe princess transformed herself into a great serpentand fell upon the scorpion and there befell a sore battle between them. Presently the scorpion changed to an eagle, and the serpent at once became a griffin, whichpursued the eagle a long while, till the latter became ablack cat. Thereupon the griffin became a piebald wolfand they fought long and sore, till the cat finding itselfbeaten, changed into a worm and crept into a pomegranatewhich lay beside the fountain in the midst of the hall, whereupon the pomegranate swelled till it was as big as awater-melon. The wolf ran to seize it, but it rose into theair and falling on the pavement, broke in pieces, and allthe seeds fell out and rolled hither and thither, till the floorwas covered with them. Then the wolf shook itself andbecame a cock, which fell to picking up the seeds, tillthey were all gone, except one that, by the decree of Fate,had rolled to the side of the basin and lay hidden there.The cock began to crow and clap its wings and signed tous with his beak, as who should say, “Are there any grainsleft?” But we understood him not; and he gave such acry that we thought the palace would fall on us. Then he ran about all over the hall, till he saw the remaining pomegranate-seed, and rushed to pick it up, but it sprang into the midst of the water and became a fish, which sankto the bottom of the basin. Thereupon the cock becamebig fish and plunged in after the other; and we sawnothing of them for a time, but heard a loud crying andscreaming and trembled. Presently the Afrit rose out ofthe water, as he were one great flame, with fire andsmoke issuing from his mouth and eyes and nostrils.Immediately after, the princess rose also, like a great coalof fire, and they fought till they were wrapped in flamesand the hall was filled with smoke. As for us, we werewell-nigh suffocated and hid ourselves and would haveplunged into the water, fearing lest we be burnt up and destroyed: and the King said, “There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme! We are God’s and to Him we return! Would God I had not urged my daughter to attempt the delivery of this ape, whereby I have imposed on her this fearful labour with yonder accursed Afrit, against whom all the other Afrits in theworld could not prevail! And would we had never seenthis ape, may God’s blessing not be on him nor on thehour of his coming! We thought to do him a kindness for the love of God, by freeing him from this enchantment,and lo, we have brought this terrible travail upon ourselves!” But my tongue was tied and I could not saya word to him. Suddenly, the Afrit roared out from underthe flames and coming up to us, as we stood on thedais, blew fire in our faces. The princess pursued himand blew flames at him, and the sparks from them both fell upon us; her sparks did us no hurt, but of his one lighted on my right eye and destroyed it; another fell onthe King’s face and scorched the lower part, burning awayhalf his beard and making his under teeth drop out, and a third lighted on the eunuch’s breast and set him on fire,so that he was consumed and died forthright. So wedespaired of life and looked for nothing but death; butpresently we heard a voice exclaiming, “God is mostgreat! He giveth aid and victory to the true believerand abandoneth him who denieth the religion of Mohammed,the Moon of the Faith!” And lo, the King’sdaughter had burnt up the Afrit and he was become aheap of ashes!
I'm currently reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.
Finally finished Dust of Dreams and Stonewielder so gonna take a break for few days then read the prequels. Then I'll finish the remaining books left in the main series not gonna lie might shed a tear or 2 after it's over.
So I decided to finally give Terry Pratchett a go, and I find myself pretty overwhelmed with the options (I'm mainly interested in the Discworld series). My question is, should I absolutely go by the publication order, or can I choose a series (I have my eye on the Death saga as well as the City Watch books) and read through that?
So I decided to finally give Terry Pratchett a go, and I find myself pretty overwhelmed with the options (I'm mainly interested in the Discworld series). My question is, should I absolutely go by the publication order, or can I choose a series (I have my eye on the Death saga as well as the City Watch books) and read through that?
There's no real need to read in publication order, though it is generally good to read the stories of any given 'saga' in order. There's some helpful visualizations out there, like this one:
!
@Panda:
There's no real need to read in publication order, though it is generally good to read the stories of any given 'saga' in order. There's some helpful visualizations out there, like this one:
! https://external-preview.redd.it/L4nkIz6BObJLoxfOd6EU0iW1Sp0cF9epBzON6qBBQLY.jpg?auto=webp&0be712cchttps://d15fwz9jg1iq5f.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/Discworld_ReadingGuide_Infographic_EpicReads.jpg
I've seen one or two such guides, but this one seems the most comprehensive and easier to understand.
I decided to start with the Death series. I'm already in love with the writing style~
In my quest to consume as much Doctor Who shit as possible, I've started reading the Virgin New Adventures series and currently making my way through the Timewyrm arc. The writing style is pretty basic, they still manage to capture the essence of Doctor Who pretty well.
Solo Leveling is the best novel!
So I went ahead and read Mort in two days and have now started Reaper Man. I have to say, the images Pratchett's writing conjure in my mind are nothing short of hilarious in one of the most creative ways I've ever encountered.
Okay, I guess I might try and read all 40 Discworld books. Ouch, my wallet.
So I've been reading the Black Company these past few months. Wished I read it before reading the Malazan series pretty sure I would've enjoyed it more than I'm currently do.
I'm reading Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James right now. I'm only 2 chapters in, but it's very interesting and well-written.
So, I've been reading Terry Pratchett books, and so far, I've read The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Mort, Pyramids, Guards! Guards! and Reaper Man, and am currently reading Men at Arms.
Phew, I didn't think I'd get through so many books in so little time.
I absolutely love the novels about Death, his character so far is the most interesting to me. Rincewind, I wasn't fond of initially, but Twoflower managed to balance him out until the second book where I got wholeheartedly on board. As far as flawed protagonists, Capt. Vimes won me over more easily. Pteppic was entertaining, but I liked his father more, after his death of course.
Just finished So long, and thanks for all the fish Adams analogies are absolutely brilliant.
I'm reading We Were Eight Years in Power, by Ta-Nehisi Coates right now. Will probably finish it sometime tomorrow.
I am reading a lot of books for inspiration
I might finish the Recognitions sometime this decade. I'm almost halfway through it. The problem is remembering (if I even knew it to begin with) what was or is happening. Also after reading the manga SoreMachi it made me want to read some mystery books. I just finished And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie which was cool. Probably going to read the Hound of the Baskervilles next.
Just finish Slaughter House 5, marvelous. Don't know exactly what to read next: L'Étranger or Genealogy of Morality.
FYI, Doyle's Holmes is a dick.
Read:
Reading:
PEAK
The Lockdown has helped me catch on my books
More than halfway through Gulliver's Travels. I realize that reading it hundreds of years after it was written means I won't get a lot of the satire and references (though thankfully the edition I'm reading has lots of footnotes) but some of the satire seems like it would be hard to get even for people at the time. Mostly the allusions to real people. The part that's made me laugh the most was when
! Gulliver describes the political and legal system of England to the king of one of the places he visits and the king says English people sound like idiots, though in more descriptive terms.
Reading the Dune books by Frank Herbert. A masterpiece of science fiction.
Already finished the two first books, currently reading children of Dune.
What can I say. A real delight.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
I'm still reading my way through Arabian Nights. This is the most metal thing I've ever read:
! These verses filled the King with wonder and delight,and he said to the eunuch, “Go to thy mistress, the Ladyof Beauty, and bid her come and amuse herself with thesight of this wonderful ape.” So the eunuch went out andpresently returned with the lady, who, when she saw me,veiled her face, and said, “O my father, how comes it thatthou art pleased to send for me and show me to strangemen?” “O my daughter,” said he, “there is none here savethe little slave and the eunuch who reared thee and myself,thy father. From whom then dost thou veil thy face?” Quoth she, “This that thou deemest an ape is a wiseand learned man, the son of a king; the Afrit Jerjis ofthe lineage of Iblis enchanted him thus, after putting todeath his own wife, the daughter of King Efitamous, Lord of the Ebony Islands.” At this the King wondered and turning to me, said, “Is this true that she says of thee?”And I signed with my head, as who should say, “Yes;” and wept. Then said he to his daughter, “Whence knewest thou that he was enchanted?” “O my father,” answered she, “there was with me, in my childhood, an old woman who was skilled in magic and taught me its rules and practice; and I became skilled therein and committed to memory a hundred and seventy magical formulas, by the least of which I could transport the stones of thy city behind the mountain Caf and make its site an abyss of thesea and its people fishes swimming in its midst.” “O mydaughter,” said her father, “I conjure thee, by my life, to disenchant this young man, that I may make him my Vizier, for he is a right pleasant and ingenious youth. “With all my heart,” replied she, and taking a knife, onwhich were engraved Hebrew characters, drew there with a circle in the midst of the hall and wrote there in namesand talismans and muttered words and charms, some of which we understood and others not. Presently the worlddarkened upon us, and the Afrit presented himself beforeus in his own shape and aspect, with hands like pitchforks,legs like masts and eyes like flames of fire. We wereaffrighted at him, but the princess said to him, “An illwelcome to thee, O dog!” Whereupon he took the formof a lion and said to her, “O traitress, thou hast brokenthy compact with me! Did we not swear that neither ofus should molest the other?” “O accursed one,” answered she, “how could there be a compact between me and thelike of thee?” “Then,” said he, “take what thou hastbrought on thyself.” And opening his mouth, rushed uponher: but she made haste and plucked a hair from her headand waved it in the air, muttering the while; and it at oncebecame a sharp sword, with which she smote the lion andcut him in two. His head became a scorpion, whereuponthe princess transformed herself into a great serpentand fell upon the scorpion and there befell a sore battle between them. Presently the scorpion changed to an eagle, and the serpent at once became a griffin, whichpursued the eagle a long while, till the latter became ablack cat. Thereupon the griffin became a piebald wolfand they fought long and sore, till the cat finding itselfbeaten, changed into a worm and crept into a pomegranatewhich lay beside the fountain in the midst of the hall, whereupon the pomegranate swelled till it was as big as awater-melon. The wolf ran to seize it, but it rose into theair and falling on the pavement, broke in pieces, and allthe seeds fell out and rolled hither and thither, till the floorwas covered with them. Then the wolf shook itself andbecame a cock, which fell to picking up the seeds, tillthey were all gone, except one that, by the decree of Fate,had rolled to the side of the basin and lay hidden there.The cock began to crow and clap its wings and signed tous with his beak, as who should say, “Are there any grainsleft?” But we understood him not; and he gave such acry that we thought the palace would fall on us. Then he ran about all over the hall, till he saw the remaining pomegranate-seed, and rushed to pick it up, but it sprang into the midst of the water and became a fish, which sankto the bottom of the basin. Thereupon the cock becamebig fish and plunged in after the other; and we sawnothing of them for a time, but heard a loud crying andscreaming and trembled. Presently the Afrit rose out ofthe water, as he were one great flame, with fire andsmoke issuing from his mouth and eyes and nostrils.Immediately after, the princess rose also, like a great coalof fire, and they fought till they were wrapped in flamesand the hall was filled with smoke. As for us, we werewell-nigh suffocated and hid ourselves and would haveplunged into the water, fearing lest we be burnt up and destroyed: and the King said, “There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme! We are God’s and to Him we return! Would God I had not urged my daughter to attempt the delivery of this ape, whereby I have imposed on her this fearful labour with yonder accursed Afrit, against whom all the other Afrits in theworld could not prevail! And would we had never seenthis ape, may God’s blessing not be on him nor on thehour of his coming! We thought to do him a kindness for the love of God, by freeing him from this enchantment,and lo, we have brought this terrible travail upon ourselves!” But my tongue was tied and I could not saya word to him. Suddenly, the Afrit roared out from underthe flames and coming up to us, as we stood on thedais, blew fire in our faces. The princess pursued himand blew flames at him, and the sparks from them both fell upon us; her sparks did us no hurt, but of his one lighted on my right eye and destroyed it; another fell onthe King’s face and scorched the lower part, burning awayhalf his beard and making his under teeth drop out, and a third lighted on the eunuch’s breast and set him on fire,so that he was consumed and died forthright. So wedespaired of life and looked for nothing but death; butpresently we heard a voice exclaiming, “God is mostgreat! He giveth aid and victory to the true believerand abandoneth him who denieth the religion of Mohammed,the Moon of the Faith!” And lo, the King’sdaughter had burnt up the Afrit and he was become aheap of ashes!
Wow. Don't hesitate to share more.
Never read it I should get it in Arabic.
So I just watched the movie Lion(with Dev Patel) like three weeks ago and I kept watching it several times now cause I liked it so much, but then I realized I wanted to know more details about this guy.
So I got myself the book of Saroo Brierley's A long way home, this one time I was very carefull to buy the original, English first edition, cause there seems to be another one out there, and I thought that might be an edition based ln the movie, which happened to me months ago when I bought a book of Stephen King's Carrie but was a newer edition, and I really wanted to get King's first successfull book in my hands to check what his writting was back then.
However, A Long Way Home is actually giving me all those details that otherwise the movie avoided or didn't have time to develop, and I'm kinda sad that I'm almost done with it, is only lasting me 5 days if I keep reading it like crazy, but I might give it a re-read once I'm done with it.
The Unauthorized Story of Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion: Expanded Second Edition by Jeff Baham
If you're a huge fan of the Disney ride, it's an incredibly interesting read. The amount of insider knowledge, in-depth history from conception to construction to completion, and analysis of the ride, scene by scene, with insight into how the effects work….it was all so fascinating to read.
So, I decided to reread "The Name of the Wind" before I could read "Wise Man's Fear" (which I kept pushing back) since so many people believe the third book of the series is coming soon.
I remember really enjoying The Name of the Wind the first time I read it to the point I kept mentioning it whenever someone asked for a good fantasy book. So I was really excited to go back to it and this time actually move farther to a 800-page sequel that would expand on the story!
Except… I can't. Nor I want. I really don't get how I liked this book before, because after 450 pages I really feel like I can't keep going. There isn't one single aspect of this book I don't find insufferable. It is one long ENDLESS bragging of a character that is the dream figure for every mediocre man craving for some wish-fulfilling fantasy so they can done his skin and feel like the alpha man among alpha men. I mean, can you think of a book where the main character says this when someone warns him not to fall in love and, instead of causing a major laugh, he is praised because he sounded so manly?
My heart is made of stronger stuff than glass. When she strikes she’ll find it strong as iron-bound brass, or gold and adamant together mixed. Don’t think I am unaware, some startled deer to stand transfixed by hunter’s horns. It’s she who should take care, for when she strikes, my heart will make a sound so beautiful and bright that it can’t help but bring her back to me in winged flight.
There is a quote from the book that pretty much sums up the entire thing: "I was brilliant. Not just your run-of-the-mill brilliance either. I was extraordinarily brilliant." That's it. That's the book.
I'm not surprised since I had similar experience. I remember how baffled I was when my friend told me it was just ok and later finding criticism on net. But once I started rereading it I had to agree, I had somewhat different issues then you, but it was simply good… Nothing great like the first time I read it.
As for the third book coming soon.... NO, hahhah, no. It aint soon. I'll believe its coming soon once there is a set release date but before that to me it's stupid to say otherwise. Sadly after all these years I'm no longer even all that interested if it does come out, the overlong waiting (as was event commented in the book) has simply soured my desire to read it.
Wow, so I wasn't alone with my thoughts, though I never finished the book. My friend recommended it to me, and even lent me the first book, but I got to the university part and my interest has vaned so much that I was unable to go on. The main character was at times insufferable, at others simply too "good". And there were some moments when I audibly went "Bulls**t!" and cringed at the story.
Onto more positive waters, I've been reading Terry Pratchett (I fear the day I run out of his books), and I'm enjoying every bit of it. I find some of his decisions in some of the books strange, but overall, I'm always left satisfied after finished a story. Death, Vimes and Rincewind are all very enjoyable main characters, and the humour never fails to entertain me.
The latest book I've finished was Clayfeet which became one of my favourites. The whole mystery involving the golems were pretty cool, and the ending gave a very apt conclusion to it all.
I haven't read Name of the Wind in some years, but I remember liking it a bit. I don't think I've ever seen someone write musical sequences as well as he did in both currently released novels. I also liked the mystery of the frame story and thought there were lots of really beautiful moments.
Currently reading Pillars of the Earth, and also starting Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon. It's really weird to read those two at the "same time". One is so hard to read that when I return to the other one, it feels like reading a book for kids, lol. Not saying that Pillars of the Earth is for children–- far from that, just feels odd af to read the two one after another.
Also, I'm reading the first book of Dune. I'm not really hooked tbh, if nothing changes in the next 100pages, I'll drop the reading
Finished Moby Dick. I expected a lot of side stuff from what I heard of it but
! my copy had 410 pages and only the last 20 pages were about chasing Moby Dick. The rest of the book was all kinds of stuff about the anatomy of whales, hunting other whales (including a cool chapter where they come across a massive army of whales), and finding other ships and asking about Moby Dick. It was as much a book about sailing as it was about whaling. Also the point of view of the book was all over the place. At times I forgot Ishmael was even a character because the view shifted so often to either a normal third person view or to first person views of other characters. That added to the difficulty of reading it, and it's already kind of daunting by itself, but it got easier to read as I went along, probably more because my understanding improved.
Kind of burned out. Next fictional book I'm going to read is going to be Middlemarch by George Eliot though. I recently reread Silas Marner which I still enjoyed so I'm interested to see how Middlemarch is as a longer book by the same author.
Currently reading Pillars of the Earth, and also starting Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon. It's really weird to read those two at the "same time". One is so hard to read that when I return to the other one, it feels like reading a book for kids, lol. Not saying that Pillars of the Earth is for children–- far from that, just feels odd af to read the two one after another.
Also, I'm reading the first book of Dune. I'm not really hooked tbh, if nothing changes in the next 100pages, I'll drop the reading
I tried reading Gravity's Rainbow in high school and gave up on it pretty early. I want to try reading it again at some point. I also have all of the Dune books written by the original author but haven't started them yet. I've seen people call it boring but there's plenty of other people that like it.
Finished Moby Dick. I expected a lot of side stuff from what I heard of it but
! my copy had 410 pages and only the last 20 pages were about chasing Moby Dick. The rest of the book was all kinds of stuff about the anatomy of whales, hunting other whales (including a cool chapter where they come across a massive army of whales), and finding other ships and asking about Moby Dick. It was as much a book about sailing as it was about whaling. Also the point of view of the book was all over the place. At times I forgot Ishmael was even a character because the view shifted so often to either a normal third person view or to first person views of other characters. That added to the difficulty of reading it, and it's already kind of daunting by itself, but it got easier to read as I went along, probably more because my understanding improved.
I had the same feelings when I first read the book. It left me wondering, but it always stayed in my head. After a few years I read it again last year. It was so much better the second time around when you know what you are in for. For its time it was a state of the art science book about sperm whales and whaling with added fiction to it. And you can really appreciate the detail of whaling in it.
Just finished the third book in the stormlight series, man I love Brandon Sanderson's power systems he makes there really cool
does anyone know other series that have unique power/magic systems?
Stromlight and Mistborn are the only Novels I've ever read that have those kinds of power systems, the only other place I see stuff like that is in Mangas
