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Post by Tonka (🐑,🪤) on Oct 7, 2021 5:01:06 GMT
Is that the one with lesbian space vampires?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2021 6:11:32 GMT
Is that the one with lesbian space vampires? Go on...
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Post by Chopper on Oct 7, 2021 7:06:53 GMT
I think I liked the writing style in Fahrenheit 451, though I found the ending a bit underwhelming.
One of the reviews on Goodreads said something like, "Why does he have to find 11 ways to tell us the girl was pale...in the same paragraph?" But yeah, I need to give it another go.
It's strange. I read her other book - Provenance - a couple of weeks ago, and had to give up on it. I found the plot extremely dull and uninteresting, but also her way of using 'ei' instead of 'he/she/they'....I guess it's a way of denoting a non-gendered character, but it took me right out of the fiction every time I read it, which was a lot. But then I loved Ancillary Justice, it was the right combination of emotionless and soap opera for me.
Nice! Will check it out, cheers.
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Post by Tonka (🐑,🪤) on Oct 7, 2021 7:36:11 GMT
Is that the one with lesbian space vampires? Go on... It warms my heart to see the new page algorithm has made the jump from EG.
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Post by Bill in the rain on Oct 7, 2021 9:01:00 GMT
Is that the one with lesbian space vampires? Not really. The cover quote by Charles Stross is "“Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” but don't go in expecting much gratuitous lesbian stuff. It's more like "snarky foul-mouthed necromancer(s) explore a haunted gothic palace in a decrepit mildly 40kish universe while generally being pissed off about it"
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Post by Tonka (🐑,🪤) on Oct 7, 2021 17:47:03 GMT
Sounds like a female Black Company in space. Better than the cover blurb.
I'm halfway through a new book that I might thick will turn into a sci-fi classic.
But I've been let down before, so I'm trying to keep my hopes down.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2021 9:48:12 GMT
Not sure if this is the best place to ask this, but I'll give it a go. We recently went away and I seem to have lost my Kindle. I've been looking at a new one and here is a new version of the Paperwhite coming out at the end of October. I think I will pick this one up, but I'm just wondering if anyone knows what the deal is with the new Paperwhite Kids version. It seems like the hardware is exactly the same and it also comes with a case a and 2 year warranty (up from 1) for an extra £10. Is there any reason to go for the normal Paperwhite over the kids one, like a restriction on what books can be downloaded or something.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2021 10:05:09 GMT
The paperwhite kids is exactly the same as the paperwhite from a hardware perspective. You can remove the "kids" stuff and make it a normal kindle. I had a pair of kindle kids which came with all the child safety stuff, but which have now had all that removed and are being used as "normal" kindles.
You get the insurance and a case and the thing is water proof, so its a good deal.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2021 10:06:53 GMT
Thanks, that's what I was hoping but it's not easy to find a definitive answer.
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Post by Chopper on Oct 9, 2021 15:34:43 GMT
I recently finished a spy/thriller trilogy from Henry Porter which I'd recommend, with reservations, if you like that type of thing.
The books were Firefly, White Hot Silence, and The Old Enemy, and are in a series called the Paul Samson Spy Thrillers. Samson is an ex-MI6 agent who now specialises in finding missing people, so the series is more spy-adjacent than spy novel, with the caveat that he keeps getting entangled with his old colleagues and other spy agencies.
Firefly is probably the strongest (like a lot of trilogies, the series declines a bit as it goes on) and follows a Syrian refugee who is making his way through Eastern Europe to Germany, hotly pursued by both baddies and goodies as he possesses some critical intelligence. Samson is hired to catch up with him. It's an entertaining read, let down a little bit by things often being resolved by unlikely coincidences.
White Hot Silence follows the same characters, but deals with a high profile Mafia kidnapping.
In summary, a decent and enjoyable set of thrillers with personable characters, though let down a little bit by various ... almost deus ex machina type events ... to resolve the conflicts.
8/10 (I have no idea what this means)
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Post by Rubicon on Oct 10, 2021 20:48:29 GMT
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews
This is the book on which the film with Jennifer Lawrence is based. For those that have seen the film, there is a difference to the ending, otherwise it fleshes out the characters and world as you would expect. For those that haven't it focuses on a woman as she joins the Russian intelligence service and tasked with uncovering a mole.
As much as it's a thriller, beneath it all Matthews (himself a former CIA spook) gives us a glimpse into the life of being a spy: the day-to-day work, structure within the organisations, the politics etc. All the boring things you wouldn't necessarily consider so if you have an interest in the intelligence services then this will certainly be for you.
However as a read, I found it got bogged down in the first half as most of this work is actually talking and the relationship between the two main characters plays out like a bad romance. Once they get out of Russia and it switches up is when things improve.
7/10
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Post by Tonka (🐑,🪤) on Oct 11, 2021 9:19:11 GMT
When the Sparrow Falls by Neil Sharpson
A very noir sci-fi that was so familiar in the setting it felt like I had read it before. The world has adopted AI and the AI has ushered in a new era of prosperity. Except in one small country where the Humanist Party banned AI, the succumbed to corruption and paranoia.
It's Gilead except based on every cruelty of the east block rather than radical misogyny.
The book has a plot, but it's there as a reason to tell the history of the Caspian Republic, and I found it perfectly captivating.
A must read
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lexw
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Post by lexw on Oct 11, 2021 11:57:31 GMT
I'm still in mourning for the old RPS book thread, but I'm glad there's one here, or I'd have to start it!
The Coward: A Quest for Heroes by Stephen Aryan
I read a lot of fantasy, and it's always a bit risky trying a new author you don't have recommendations from friends on, but the synopsis seemed interesting and a bit different, and reviews were positive, saying it was a good blend of new-school and old-school fantasy, so I picked this up. It's the story of a guy who, at 17, tagged along with 11 actual known heroes, on an epic quest to slay an evil lich, and was was the sole survivor of this. He's left deeply troubled by this, with what is clearly PTSD, and disabused of any notions of heroism. When the same trouble starts up again, he ends up being asked to go and deal with it again, and is understandably reluctant. I'll avoid saying much more, plot-wise, to avoid real spoilers.
It did turn out to be a fairly interesting book, in some ways reminiscent of Joe Abercrombie, but with a more positive outlook on humanity. The setting is solid, and subtly modern. The characters feel human and real, for the most part (only one, a swordsman who joins late in the book, feels a bit thin), and even the main antagonist is well-realized, and ironically, perhaps the most sympathetic character in the book, despite her extreme ideas. The plot is also executed well, with some decent surprises, good pacing, and appropriately-placed interludes that don't leave you going "Grrr get back to the characters I actually care about!".
The weakest part is probably the writing itself, which seems to get sort of more sketchy as the book goes on. The first half and the interludes all feel pretty complete, but as the story continues, there's a fair bit of stuff where it feels like the author wrote the same sentence two different ways, or where there's excessive repetition of certain words, and it definitely doesn't feel intentional. There's also a slight thin-ness to the world. A character who could tell us more is tight-lipped until a brief exposition-dump very late on, and unusually for a fantasy author, the terrain and world in general seems under-described at times (usually the opposite it true).
The novel is also somewhat unusual in that it's clearly the setup for a very different sequel/series of sequels. It almost feels like we might have been better off without the story of the "coward" here in such detail, but having it more as the first third of one of those sequels, because they seem like they have the potential to be more interesting.
Rating - Solid but not vital, if you're a big fan of slightly cold, dark British fantasy like Abercrombie you might enjoy it more.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Oct 17, 2021 13:16:45 GMT
I'd seen people recommend Joe Abercrombie on the old place, so thought I'd give him a go. Starting with...
THE BLADE ITSELF
Pretty good! I did like how most of the main characters were various shades of dickhead, but never to the point that you wanted to stop rooting for them. There weren't any straight-up hero people, which was a nice change.
The female characters weren't as well served, unfortunately. You had Revenge Lady and Sassy-But-Troubled Love Interest, and that was pretty much it. It's a pretty common problem in fantasy, but I'm noticing it more and more these days.
Also, Glokta is a dumb name. Great character, but dumb name.
Anyway, it's still got me interested, looking forward to book 2!
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Post by Tonka (🐑,🪤) on Oct 17, 2021 14:52:29 GMT
I agree that there's plenty of male power fantasy fantasy, bit many of the greatest fantasy authors are women, so it's quite easy to pad the reading list with books that have better female characters.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2021 18:37:36 GMT
I'm reading a good fantasy book at the moment, that I'd never heard of until reading a website that has it down as "the second best fantasy book ever". It's called "the name of the wind" and I think I'll be sad when it's over.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Oct 17, 2021 22:00:25 GMT
I'm reading a good fantasy book at the moment, that I'd never heard of until reading a website that has it down as "the second best fantasy book ever". It's called "the name of the wind" and I think I'll be sad when it's over. The Name of the Wind kind of annoyed me. I agree that it's well-written in terms of prose, but I've nfi why it's regarded as highly as it is. Anyway, the series isn't finished, and I don't know if it ever will be. It's been more than a decade since the second one came out.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2021 6:13:55 GMT
I'm reading a good fantasy book at the moment, that I'd never heard of until reading a website that has it down as "the second best fantasy book ever". It's called "the name of the wind" and I think I'll be sad when it's over. The Name of the Wind kind of annoyed me. I agree that it's well-written in terms of prose, but I've nfi why it's regarded as highly as it is. Anyway, the series isn't finished, and I don't know if it ever will be. It's been more than a decade since the second one came out. Thanks. I have reached a point where I'm staying to wonder about it to be honest. It's a shame it's not finished, but I was thinking it was just a single book anyway.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Oct 18, 2021 6:16:57 GMT
Nah, there's a second book called The Wise Man's Fear. I never bothered with it on account of not really liking the first one. But if you did like it, from what I've heard the sequel is pretty similar.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2021 6:19:04 GMT
Depends where this book takes me. It's starting to go a bit "he had this amazing reputation, but the reality is that he's a pillock"
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Oct 18, 2021 6:33:28 GMT
He is a pillock at that. But the book doesn't seem to realise it, because it's too busy jerking off about how great he is at everything, how all these women are in love with him, how this woman who is with someone else actually wants to be with him because HE UNDERSTANDS HER BETTER THAN ANY OTHER MAN. He's in the friend zone for now, but that will change!
I guess you could excuse some of it by saying that the story is told from his perspective, and presumably he doesn't have any capacity for self-reflection. But there's only so much I can take; if I'm going to have a central Point-of-View character, I need to not be rooting for them to fail.
It's a shame, because I did really like the prose, and the system of magic Rothfuss came up with was really cool. I just hated the main character, and that's a huge problem in a book where everything revolves around him.
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Post by Tonka (🐑,🪤) on Oct 18, 2021 10:00:16 GMT
Yeas, I'm in 100% agreement with Mola on "The Name of the Wind". I couldn't stand the soppy "I'm not like the other men she's wasting her time with! I'm also too pure to act on her obvious invite to rub genitals because GODS I'M SO GREAT!"
Can't remember the magic system, was too annoyed with the main character insisting on getting expelled by being a constant dick head, Plus, wtf was that girl on the roof thing?
Part of me wonders if the author hasn't given up on the series because he grew up and realised what he had written-
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2021 10:24:29 GMT
Well.... I'm not exactly looking forwards to the other 50% of this book now I've just done the girl on the roof thing (Auri) and yes that was/is weird. I'm enjoying it, but last night I did find myself thinking "when is this going to move on and stop being Harry Potter the Pillock" and even me with a Roman Catholic and then Jehovah's Witness upbringing had more clue about women than he does.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Oct 18, 2021 10:31:10 GMT
Heh, try not to let my opinion colour your own!
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Post by Tonka (🐑,🪤) on Oct 18, 2021 11:20:49 GMT
The good thing is that there's so much fantasy out there. It's easy to find something better. "The Name of the Wind" has a lot of good things going for it. I'm really fond of boarding school books, with evil bullies that are evil because, and mean teachers, and preferably the eccentric teacher with the special cool group.
I absolutely loved The Poppy War as long as it stayed in the super clichéd school setting. AS soon as the heroin left the school it became one of the worst books I've read.
So, I can see why TNotW pops up in lists of great fantasy books. It just wasn't my cup of tea.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2021 11:24:55 GMT
I absolutely loved The Poppy War as long as it stayed in the super clichéd school setting. AS soon as the heroin left the school it became one of the worst books I've read. I was going to take the piss about expecting the book to get better once everyone wasn't off their face on drugs, but I'm actually not sure if that should have been spelt heroine or not now given the title of the book.
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Post by retro74 on Oct 18, 2021 11:27:57 GMT
I’ve bought that Richard Osman book to read on holiday. I just wanted something quite basic and easy to read
Has anyone read it? It’s called The Thursday Murder Club
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Post by Tonka (🐑,🪤) on Oct 18, 2021 12:43:59 GMT
I absolutely loved The Poppy War as long as it stayed in the super clichéd school setting. AS soon as the heroin left the school it became one of the worst books I've read. I was going to take the piss about expecting the book to get better once everyone wasn't off their face on drugs, but I'm actually not sure if that should have been spelt heroine or not now given the title of the book. It's one of those instances where I misspelt it, but it's still correct. Part of the books magic lore is to get high.
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Post by Bill in the rain on Oct 18, 2021 13:46:48 GMT
Hmm. The poppy war has been on my audible wishlist for a while. It sounded like an interesting variation on the standard fantasy tropes. I only hadn't pulled the trigger because it was bloody long.. and there were at least 2 more books.
Reading some user reviews on there now, it does seem that there's a massive shift in the tone and the protagonist's character about half way through. Which some seem to like, and a lot seemed to hate.
Now I'm torn...
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Post by Techno Hippy on Oct 18, 2021 13:57:01 GMT
Sixteen ways to defend a walled cityFantastic breezy kind of fantasy novel about an unlikely character who ends up being in charge of the defence of the Imperial Capital when the barbarians attack. It's set in a fictional universe but it feels very much like the Roman Empire. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it's a bit of a one trick pony. The anti-hero is faced with a problem, everyone else is an idiot, the anti-hero breaks all the unwritten rules and saves the day. Rinse repeat. But it doesn't overstay its welcome, AND it has a few surprises up its sleeve. Well worth reading If you enjoy a fun fantasy siege then check out Legend by David Gemmel - also featuring Druss, one of my favourite fantasy heroes. There's some excellent sieges in his other books as well.
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