What are you reading?

[Zoan]

The God Who Is There by Francis Shaeffer
Which I recommend as mandatory reading for all Christians, but if you can't stomach it (because it's a little on the technical side) I'd suggest what I just finished before that:

The Kingdom Triangle by J.P Moreland

Has anyone else read these books?

[Ante Bellum]

The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. Yeah...
Oh, and Shao, they said in the book that it was a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they ever did was sing prettily for people, and weren't a bother.

[uc pseudonym]

A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay

I don't know if this is the best example of Kay's work, but it is his only fantasy novel at the nearest library. It was good to have read his work, as his writing differs greatly from George RR Martin's (frequently complex/compound sentences, different emphases in plot, calmer pacing, etc) and it's good to know there's variety in the fantasy industry. Now to complete my circuit of modern fantasy writers I need to read Jack Vance, and a friend of mine has been pushing Steven Erikson on me. I'm open to other suggestions as well.

Though Kay has impressed me in every interview/essay I have seen of him, his fiction impressed me somewhat less. Not to say that it was poorly written, but the different kingdoms were characterized a bit too starkly for my taste. I'm hesitant to say that, especially because the book is in part about stereotypes, but the villains are drawn as so clearly evil that I feel it was a weakness.

He also uses present tense for a specific set of characters, alongside the usual past tense sections. I really can't think of a way this aided the book's themes or narrative, and it was a bit jarring.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

After reccommendation by someone on this forum I've picked up The Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Working through it right now... Some pretty bold stuff. It's still as hard as ever to sell your possessions, pick up your cross, and follow Him.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I finally gave up on The Living. Seemed rather pointless. I think from now on I'll stick to Dillard's essays.

I'm nearly done with Inkheart, I finished A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Wide Window, and started Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I'm not very far in it, but I'm already hooked. It was definitely a relief open a fantasy book that doesn't start on a farm or somewhere similarly boring. It actually starts where the story starts. I wish more fantasy writers could get that through their heads

[rocklobster]

Just finished Superior Saturday, the latest book in Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series. I am now starting on the Pendragon books.

[ich1990]

“Dune” by Frank Herbert

I have often heard this book mentioned in the same breath as other science-fiction and fantasy greats such as “The Foundation Trilogy” and “The Lord of the Rings”. Given such a reputation, I planned to read “Dune”... eventually. In all honesty I am not fond of desert settings or sand in particular, so I took my time getting around to reading “Dune”. Once I finally started a read of it, I finished its 530 dense pages in four days; it was engrossing.

The comparisons to “The Lord of the Rings” are well founded. Like Tolkein, Herbert does a marvelous job of communicating an enormous depth of history and culture that the story is set in. Inside of “Dune” there is an entire universe, one that is truly alien. During the first fifty of so pages, this feeling of strangeness is all but overwhelming. I don't think I understood even half of what is spoken or referenced during the first hour of reading. The beginning is where Herbert truly sets himself apart from amateur writers, though. After the first hour I began to understand, through induction, cultural osmosis, and cleverly placed contextual hints more and more of the worlds and words of “Dune”. Eventually I became so acclimated to the world that it ceased to seem peculiar. It was a fascinating experience.

All of this wordsmith showmanship probably makes “Dune” sound pretentious and high minded; to a certain extent it is. In the grand tradition of soft science fiction it works in gigantic amounts of details and philosophic musings about culture, ecology, religion, and politics. At the same time, however, “Dune” incorporates many classic tropes of the genre: blood feuds, emotionless assassins, psychics, genetically manipulated super-beings, seers, a cult who trains its members in Sherlock Holmes style skills of observance, etc. For all its philosophical pondering and subtle cultural criticisms, “Dune” is still a fun and engaging story.

The only substantial weakness I could find dwells in Herbert's writing style. Mainly, he uses ellipses excessively (to the tune of several per page). If each of these pauses are “sounded out” in the reader's head, the occasionally awkward dialog becomes stilted and unbelievable. It didn't take me long to start ignoring the ellipses; I recommend other readers do the same.

I don't know what I expected out of “Dune” but those expectations were certainly met. I recommend this story to all fans of the science fiction and fantasy genres. It really is a classic and a grand achievement of imagination. Herbert gambled on a unique literary approach and won... and crafted a fine story to boot. If that was not enough, “Dune” also has four appendices. 10/10

[uc pseudonym]

Coincidentally, the book I'm about to cover has a glowing cover blurb from Frank Herbert himself. It also has three glossaries, though they're short and probably should be read before the novel itself. Less supplementary information and more basic background to the world.

Lyonesse by Jack Vance

This is the most my opinion has ever changed while reading a novel. The beginning felt like Lord of the Rings with slightly higher violence and sexual content. Later parts have politics and court maneuvering, then wizards that can literally turn people into things, then battles that feel as though they were written by a different author, and there is even a section that could have been lifted from the Brothers Grimm.

The first half of the novel feels schizophrenic, but it pulls these disparate elements together pretty well, so that’s not much of a problem. My issue is with the first quarter of the book which is, frankly, boring and unimportant. It’s like a dry biography (of a character who isn’t even a major player in the novel) punctuated by a few incidents that don’t ever really justify their existence. I would probably have stopped reading if not for how highly Jack Vance has been acclaimed by some authors.

But I did keep reading, and I see what many people liked in the book. It uses a very Tolkien-esque setting but gives it a more complicated conflict between nations. It balances realism with wizards powerful enough to stop time and reshape reality (they essentially neutralize one another’s direct actions while trying to work through proxies). It has a variety of different character strands that weave together interestingly.

I wouldn’t recommend this novel to everyone. Though the publication date is 1983, it’s written as if several decades of novels simply didn’t happen, so many will find it dry. In any case, when I have time again I think I will pursue the rest of the trilogy. This one ends with an “epilogue” that reads like an announcer at the end of a serialized drama: “What will become of this character? What is so and so plotting? etc” It even ends with, I kid you not, a mysterious stranger in the shadows smiling about the coming Doom.

[Angel Tifa]

Since it's another semester at Palomar College, I'm currently reading my class texts; Health 100 textbook "Core Concepts in Health", Geography 100 textbook "Physical Geography", and the Math 100 textbook "Exploring Mathematics". Sounds Boring, but the Health book and the geography book I find VERY interesting and attention grasping. What made me wanna take geography for one of my sciences was learning about how all the continents were one.

[bigsleepj]

Lyonesse by Jack Vance

I've never read anything by Vance, but the story does sound kind of crazy. Still, I always got the idea that Vance's "Dying Earth" saga was considered his best work.

[Radical Dreamer]

Finally finished Ender's Game today! Excellent, excellent book. I love how much it made me think. XD I'm gonna be starting Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy next, as I'm borrowing it from a friend, and then after that I think I'll try to whittle a little bit more from my still incomplete list from this summer! XD

[the_wolfs_howl]

Dune and Ender's Game are awesome sci-fi books! Big fan!

Anyway, I finished Inkheart - pretty good, but I think I actually like the movie better gaspshockhorror! And I went from The Wide Window to The Miserable Mill in the Series of Unfortunate Events.

Unfortunately, Assassin's Apprentice has to go back to the library before I'm finished with it, but it's really good! Very fun to read. I'll have to grab it just as soon as I can get it back.

[bigsleepj]

I loved Assassin's Apprentice!

Edit: Currently reading John Le Carré's Smiley's People. Got to finish the trilogy!

[Acolyte]

just finished the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. i have to admit i was very impressed. one of my martial arts students loved them and convinced me to read them too. i felt that they were very well written, even witty at times. working Salvatore's books have finished the dark elf trilogy, now working on the icewind dale trilogy.

[ich1990]

[b]“Perilous Pursuitsâ€

[rocklobster]

I just finished Book 2 of the Pendragon series.

[Alice]

Today I finished reading Bright Futures, by Stuart M. Kaminsky. (A Lew Fonesca mystery)

I liked it a lot, although it just seemed to end at the end; I was a little disappointed there. But the characters, character development, 'voice,' and thoughtful yet fast pace (not sure how else to describe it), were very good, IMO. I'll definitely seek out this author again.

[Fish and Chips]

Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

Basically a look in on the last days of a former party member of A Russian Country That May Or May Not Be Russia as he's incarcerated on suspicions of high treason, likely doctored up for the sake of disposing of people like him. Not sure how to describe why I liked it, except that I did. It was also a surprisingly brisk read, considering the weight of the subject matter.

[rocklobster]

I am wrapping up Pendragon book 3. I plan to start Percy Jackson and the New Olympians Book 1 tomorrow.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Moved on from The Miserable Mill to The Austere Academy in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

And I'm nearly done with House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. It's the second sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, and is a very fun read. Jones is good about making sequels that aren't about the exact same characters, so it doesn't feel like a tacked-on sequel, but it's set in the same world and the characters you've met previously make appearances. It's a very good way to go about the sequel problem. This one is about a girl named Charmain, a sweet-toothed bookworm who goes to take care of her Great-Uncle's house while he's away being treated for some illness by the elves. Since he's a wizard, his house is every bit as interesting as Howl's moving castle, if not quite so mobile. There are all sorts of fun quirks about the magic of that world and the way it works, and Charmain feels very real (not too different from me, which makes me feel uncomfortable when she's being believably insensitive). The characters are very vivid and practically pop off the pages - just like the previous two books. A must-read for anyone who likes quirky fantasy.

[-Frail-Dreams-]

I am currently reading The Mascot by Mark Kurzem, about unraveling his Jewish fathers Nazi childhood. It's pretty good.
And I'm also reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. <3

[Roberts]

Reading C. S. Lewis' works en masse at the moment.

His conclusions and reasoning in 'Mere Christianity' has been... uplifting and insightful. I mean, I find myself agreeing with the ideas he presents so vehemently, yet his writings are from around mid last century. I have had my views labeled as 'dated' before, I guess this confirms that label as accurate.

We would have gotten along famously had my birth date landed a good 60 or 70 years earlier than it did I wager (and had I met him, of course).

Highly recommend.

[Phantom_Sorano]

I'm currently reading Bram Stoker's Dracula.....interesting so far.

[Anystazya]

Just bought two books by Ted Dekker. One is Adam, and the other is Green. I've already started Adam, and I'm going to read Green after I reread Black, Red, and White. =)

[yukoxholic]

Missin' - Novala Takemoto

[ich1990]

[b]“Crazy Loveâ€

[Davidizer13]

Oil! - Upton Sinclair.

It was the basis for There Will Be Blood, which I haven't seen and probably won't see for a while, but so far it's pretty good. It's about drilling for oil (duh) in southern California in the '20s.

Also, I've got the next two volumes of Jeff Smith's Bone waiting for me at the library, and I'll probably pick 'em up tomorrow. I heartily recommend it if you're looking for a good Western graphic novel.

[bigsleepj]

Oil! - Upton Sinclair.

It was the basis for There Will Be Blood, which I haven't seen and probably won't see for a while, but so far it's pretty good. It's about drilling for oil (duh) in southern California in the '20s.

As I understand it Oil! and There Will be Blood are both very different "animals", so to speak. TWBB is considered a "loose adaptation" at best.

[Htom Sirveaux]

Getting into the Halloween spirit with Clive Barker's Mister B. Gone.

[uc pseudonym]

Maduoc by Jack Vance

The available book as opposed to the one I wanted; I will have to use interlibrary loan to find material by Steve Erikson or KJ Parker.

Again, it took about 100 pages for the plot to become involving. At least in this case, the previous scenes are more interesting and seem to be justified in setting up various events (and it seems unlikely that the title character will die in this book). It remains a strange mix of different subgenres, but it's enjoyable enough. The only thing I didn't mention in my review of the previous book is that there is a fair amount of dry humor throughout the series.

Jesus Matters by assorted authors

I haven't fully read it and I may not. It was written for a different purpose than I had expected, by people at a different religious state. So far I can recommend neither reading nor skipping it.