• Registered: 2006-10-02
  • Posts: 123

Topic: What have you been reading?

Since we've had quiet a few other similar topics on the preferences of the people here, I thought it would be interesting to get an idea of what sort of things people read.

What book(s) have you read recently? And what did you think of them?

Currently, I'm re-reading a favourite of mine, The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove. A time travel/Alternative history story, where 21st century South African Neo-Nazis travel back to the American Civil War and help the confederates. It's one of my favourite such yarns, because so many time travel stories have the superior people from the future effortlessly awing and outwitting their primitive ancestors. In this book, the time travellers find that men like Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest are more than a match for them intellectually, and are also well used to overcoming superior forces when it comes to a direct confrontation.

Before that, I read the Complete Chronicles of Conan, by Robert E. Howard. My passion for Conan has been explored at great length elsewhere, so I won't repeat myself other than to reccomend this collection of classic fantasy works that predates the Lord of the Rings by almost twenty years.

My other reading matter has been the closing parts of the "Lucifer" graphic novel series by Mike Carey. A spin-off from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, in which Lucifer had quit his position as Lord of Hell, the series charts the ongoing tale of the Morningstar as he deals with demons, deities and cosmic principles in his quest to escape from the tyranny of God's Divine Plan. The title character is the reason the series is so compelling. The closest I can come to a comparison is Hannibal Lector- readers are left in no doubt that he is a monster, but even so, can't help but admire him because he is so brilliant and charismatic as well.

  • From: Antwerp, Belgium
  • Registered: 2006-11-11
  • Posts: 88

Re: What have you been reading?

Tantavalist wrote:

Currently, I'm re-reading a favourite of mine, The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove. A time travel/Alternative history story, where 21st century South African Neo-Nazis travel back to the American Civil War and help the confederates.

What i espescially liked about the book is that it finally shows that the Confederate States were about more than just pro-slavery. I really love Turtledoves works, sadly their are hard to find here in Belgium.


I'm currently reading "Let The Galaxy Burn". A collection of short stories set in the Warhammer 40K universe. Not a bad book, but sadly most stories (so fat, i'm not even half way yet) focus to much on action and the WH40K cliches, but the book does contain ceveral gems and offers an easy way (some things still demand some looking up on your part if you don't know yet) to step into that universe for those that are unfamiliar with it.

Other books that i've finished recently are:

Sheri S. Tepper's "Grass": It took me some time to get into the story as it starts to crawl away at a similar rate as a blind snail who has fear of spinning out in the next turn, but as soon all the main characters have gotten their introduction the story starts to get some speed and heads into the final climax. Along the way you'll be served an original way of looking at Gods/gods greater plan and the honest question whether the human ability to be commit both attrocities and deeds of unparalled kindness is a weakness or maybe our strenght.
As a side note. The main character is a strong and female one, the machomale & alpha-male stereotype get the weakest parts and emotional liberated or more thoughfull male characters get more productive roles.
So it has a bit of a feminist stamp on it, but that didn't bother me to much.

Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War": Most of you will have read it as it is one of "THE" sci-fi classics. Interstellar war, relativity, homosexuality as the next society, an unknown enemy, terran distopia and  a hero war veteran that hardly ever fought. The Forever War has it all.
Haldeman states that it was written as a paralel with the Vietnam War, but we as post-Cold War, post-Gulf War and intra War On Terror-babies find plenty to recognize aswell in it.

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  • Registered: 2006-10-02
  • Posts: 123

Re: What have you been reading?

Warhammer 40,000 books can be very good, especially once you learn to recognise the better authors. The setting is a very good one, it's just a shame that Games Workshop only ever uses it as an engine to sell overpriced models and inferior rulesets. I still read the occasional collection of short stories set in universe myself.

  • From: Antwerp, Belgium
  • Registered: 2006-11-11
  • Posts: 88

Re: What have you been reading?

Tantavalist wrote:

Warhammer 40,000 books can be very good, especially once you learn to recognise the better authors. The setting is a very good one, it's just a shame that Games Workshop only ever uses it as an engine to sell overpriced models and inferior rulesets. I still read the occasional collection of short stories set in universe myself.

I prefere Dan Abnett's and Ben Counter's, especially the Crimons Tears-series, Ravenor and the Eisenhorn-trilogy.

Midragar's Website

  • Registered: 2006-10-06
  • Posts: 100

Re: What have you been reading?

I rarely read anything but news, comics and VW magazines.

So the last thing was Ultra VW (latest issue)
Then comics like Yoko Tsuno, Morbus Gravis (Druuna), of course The Valerian, stuff by Moebius and similar.

Last actual books i read, that wasn't computermanuals/books was :
Stig Tøfting's "No regrets" (danish controversial soccer player's biography - I wen't to school with him (couple of classes under) so it was quite interresting read) - 3 months ago

Troels Kløvedal "Øerne under vinden" (the islands under the wind) - famous danish globetrotter's last book - a year ago

Bill Bryson's "Down under" - 6 years ago

- like i said. I don't read books that much.....

Cheers

  • Ahnion
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  • From: Norrköping, Sweden
  • Registered: 2006-10-01
  • Posts: 218

Re: What have you been reading?

I just recently finished Clive Barker's excellent "The Damnation Game". True to Barker's style, it's dark, deep and intricately shaped while brutally visceral in the execution. It must be tough to be such an amazing author in a genre as generally discredited and pulpy as horror.

Presently I'm reading Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" and finding it quite amusing. It is obvious that Dawkins is on his own personal crusade against religion, but the arguments he makes are generally sound, even though his analogues have a tendency to go overboard.

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  • Registered: 2006-10-02
  • Posts: 123

Re: What have you been reading?

I've never read "The Damnation Game", but I've read a lot of Clive Barker's other books- Weaveworld, Imagica, The Books of Blood and The Great and Secret Show. It's generally good stuff, though I don't care for his constant Goddess-fixation. Barker is, however, the only living writer to craft tales that blur the line between horror and fantasy whose vision works on the same scale as Lovecraft's did.

I never really care much for books like "The God Delusion". I'm a hardcore atheist myself, so to me, saying God doesn't exist and religion is based on a delusion is like writing a book that says "the sky is blue". I agree, but what more is there to say than that?

  • Ahnion
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  • From: Norrköping, Sweden
  • Registered: 2006-10-01
  • Posts: 218

Re: What have you been reading?

Tantavalist wrote:

I never really care much for books like "The God Delusion". I'm a hardcore atheist myself, so to me, saying God doesn't exist and religion is based on a delusion is like writing a book that says "the sky is blue". I agree, but what more is there to say than that?

I'm generally speaking an agnostic, with the reservation that I think religious claim to truth is utterly silly. People can believe whatever they feel like, but to claim it is objectively true is silly on the same scale as claiming you've seen the universe from the outside. Dawkins' book concerns itself with that bit, refuting the various "evidence" presented by theologists and giving voice to the frustration many of us feel when we try to reason with the devout, as it were.
Also, it was a birthday present, given for the enjoyment rather than anything else - and enjoying, it is. Dawkins' half ranting on scientific basis, half sharing grins with the reader between the lines is, if a bit dishonest, good-natured and warm.

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