Reading thread of novels, novellas and novelettes

[archnemesis]

What have you been reading lately?

Yesterday I finished reading Matthew Reilly’s The Tournament. It’s the year 1546 and the Ottoman Sultan has invited the west to send their best chess players to battle in a tournament. You get to follow the 13-year-old Elizabeth I of England who gets swept up in a mysterious adventure with political intrigues and murders.

It was less ridiculous than Reilly’s typical over-the-top action novels. I wouldn’t call it good literature, but it’s a page-turner and a perfect fit for my commute.

Next up is Edward W. Said’s Orientalism.

[chapel]

I haven’t really been reading any long form content, but I have been listening to audio books which I enjoy very much.

Latest

The Martian
Great book (though not 100% finished) and am excited for the movie.

Next

The Runelords: The Sum of all Men
This would technically be a re-read, but I enjoyed it the first time long ago and am excited to listen to it this time.

Or

The Masters of Doom
Heard great things about this.

[archnemesis]

Are the books in the Runelords series self-contained or do you have to read all of them? The main reason I don’t read more fantasy is that I don’t want to get stuck with a long series of books that I won’t have time to complete.

[chapel]

To a certain extent they are standalone. The story arcs are standalone for sure. They do build on each other as far as lore and characters, but from what I remember you could read any of them alone and enjoy the book. You’d miss things but you wouldn’t be stuck having to continue reading the series.

[Vizzy]

been reading the Revelation space series by Alastair reynolds

its a 5 part scifi book series about humanity in the future when they have space flight and nanomachines and shit

basically humanity finds evidence of an extinct alien race and they also discover what made them extinct, the cliche ancient machine race! but its pretty well written with various human factions and drama that it works well, even the machines motives are interesting, fighting some sort of entropic force or something

lotta cool scifi stuff, time travel, multiple universe type stuff, hive minds, robots, parasitic machines, robots, pig people, etc

im on book 4 of 5 and each one is pretty different in tone, one was kinda like a detective story a bit, one a revenge story etc

I highly recommend if you like scifi

[archnemesis]

I have forgotten most of the details from the original trilogy, but this follow-up is exciting on its own. The magic part is pretty toned town and it is more about mysterious murders and political intrigue.

[archnemesis]

I found a copy of The Great Gatsby at a flea market for $0.35 and it’s very well written.

[archnemesis]

These fantasy novels are great for my daily commute. Soon I’ll have to buy a new trilogy.

[archnemesis]

I’m a couple hundred pages into Under the Dome by Stephen King and it’s great. The plot is really simple. A small town is suddenly surrounded by an invisible dome and then society falls apart.

[archnemesis]

Under the Dome ended up being one of my all time favorite novels by King.

Now I’m reading The Martian by Andy Weir. By accident I picked up the Swedish version that is also called “The Martian”.

[chapel]

Really enjoyed this (though I “read” it as an audio book).

[archnemesis]

Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture was apparently written in 1938. I assumed it was contemporary when I bought it. It discusses the importance of the play element of culture and society, mostly from a historic perspective (rather than scientific or psychological).

[Vizzy]

I been reading Apex which is the third book in Ramez Naam Nexus trilogy

basically some dudes invent a drug called nexus using nanites allowing ppl to connect via the mind giving humans a software layer to their bodies and improve themselves and shit.
but the world aint ready for this so it goes bad
also china creates an AI in secret and they become evil ofc.

[archnemesis]

Sounds like fun reading. I’m adding it to my wishlist.

[Vizzy]

finished Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Its about a dude in the future who lives on mars mining helium
Also Society is split into various Colors, like his is Red and he learns hes basically the lowest shitty slave class
dont wanna spoil it ima just say this book is badass.

immediately started reading the sequel which starts out p wierd but gets awesome too.

if you like sci fi and also revenge stories its a++

[archnemesis]

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin takes place a hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones. This edition comes with really nice illustrations.

[Vizzy]

finished Golden Son by Pierce Brown
it was a pretty good sequel. I think itd make a p badass movie really
better than the hunger games
the ending felt kinda rushed in the “this is the second book in a trilogy so sudden ending!” but it came after a nice emotional catharsis plot point that felt good

the third book comes out feb 9th so my wait is short
I might buy a physical copy

[archnemesis]

Richard Dawkins’s second biography is a mix between fascinating and dull. The biological examples and stories are all well written and exciting. The other half of the book, where he is name dropping other scientists and remembering his time at various universities, is incredibly boring. Maybe it would have been more interesting if I had studied at Oxford myself.

[archnemesis]

I’ve soon read all of Canavan’s work. Most of her fantasy novels are really solid. Thief’s Magic is set in a world of steam power and magic. The first few chapters have been great.

[Vizzy]

finished reading Echopraxia last night
which is the sequel to the most excellent Blindsight, both by Peter Watts

tbh it was prolly a 7/10
lots of cool ideas and philosophical musings but plot wise it was just ok.

If you like tranhumanism/posthumanism read it for sure. it also has vampires, zombies (albeit philosophical) and alien goo.

also the main character kills himself

he got better though