What are you reading?

[cmsahe]

BTW There is a scientist who says that the famous "Wow signal" was indeed from an alien civilization.

http://www.bigear.org/6equj5.htm

contact is a great book, not so much story or writing, of course,
but the idea that there are "messages" or "communication"
deeply embedded in the structure of the universe, decipherable
only thru high-level mathematics.

if there is an "intelligence" in the universe, that's how it'd work.

[Redstar]

Starting Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton soon, followed by its sequel Judas Unchained. The series is described by a SFRevu as "AN IMAGINATIVE AND STUNNING TALE OF THE PERFECT FUTURE THREATENED...a book of epic proportions not unlike Frank Herbert's Dune or Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy." We'll see.

[inhuien]

Well they're certainly epic books (Hamiltons), at least in scope.

[SadisticCynic]

Reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, for the first time. Good so far.

[Laphtiya]

Reading "Requiem" by robyn young the 3rd in a trilogy, very good books set near the end of the Crusades. Also listening to Dune audiobook the unabridged version, just passed the fight with Jamis this morning.

[Redstar]

The book is 988 pages long. The sequel is 1008. I dislike going this direction, but I'm only going to read one chapter a day so I can better take everything in and give a better opinion.

So far it appears to be hard science fiction. Lots of explanation of technology. It's actually needless narrative, but he at least does it in a way that isn't painfully obvious. The characters are dull, which is okay because people are dull, so I'll allow time to form an opinion on them.

[Redstar]

Nearly halfway through. Chapter 11, which ends on page 376 of 988.

I'm finding a lot to gripe about when I'm finally done. Not much to enjoy.

[Lundse]

Reading Dune Messiah.

It smells of old book stores, and reminds me of the first times I read Frank's works.

Also, it is brilliant!

[Serkanner]

I am about 20% into "Matter by " Iain M. Banks ... like it A LOT so far. Truly awesome world building.

[TheDukester]

Truly awesome world building.

Is it at the level of Saga of Seven Suns, or is it even better than that?

[Serkanner]

Truly awesome world building.

Is it at the level of Saga of Seven Suns, or is it even better than that?

Nothing is better than the Saga of Seven Suns!

[SandChigger]

INCOMING CRITICAL DARLING ATTACK! TAKE COVER!

[Serkanner]

INCOMING CRITICAL DARLING ATTACK! TAKE COVER!

I just realize why the Jacket can not stomach the "critical darlings" ... they did win some true literary awards with their work.

[SandChigger]

Worse, my friend, they have ... TALENT.

[DuneFishUK]

I bet they're crap at meeting deadlines though...

[TheDukester]

I bet they're crap at meeting deadlines though...

Yes, by God, Kevin J. Anderson delivers his hackery ON TIME! You guys don't appreciate that; you just don't get Kevin.

[smugetsu]

I'm currently reading Necroscope by Brian Lumley.

It came recommended to me by a coworker of mine, who ranted and raved about it all the time. It seems OK so far, but then again I'm only maybe 1/3 of the way in. The writing style seems decent...in fact that only problem I have with it is this:

It was written in the early-to-mid 80's, and as such, a lot of vampire movies/books have been released since, and a lot of them seem to rip off a bit from Necroscope. Of course, I'm not entirely convinced that Necroscope is entirely original, either...a lot of the concepts and ideas seem to have been done before. I guess when you're dealing with a creature whose mythology spans many cultures and many centuries, you're going to have similar traits appear. After all, Lumley didn't invent the vampire.

I am open to any suggestions of works that may eclipse Necroscope, but keep in mind that I have never, and likely will never read the Twilight series.

[SadisticCynic]

Haven't read Necroscope so I don't know about eclipsing it, but Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire are both very good. (Anne Rice's later works are reputed to be not so good, I can only say this from experience with the two direct sequels, The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned).

I'm stuck reading several books at the same time: Children of Dune, A Tour of the Calculus by David Berlinski (maths book) and I will soon be reading Mort by Terry Pratchett having read in the last couple of days Guards! Guards!.

[TheDukester]

Anne Rice's later works are reputed to be not so good ...

This was years ago, but it got so bad at one point that she actually took out some ads in very visible places (such as the N.Y. Times) chastising her fans for being critical of some by-the-numbers vampire crap she'd written.

Now there's another author with Anderson-ian levels of self-importance.

[A Thing of Eternity]

Really? That's funny. I used to read a bunch of her stuff, quite enjoyed it when I was younger.

[Redstar]

Few people were arguing that Dracula sucks because Stoker was lazy naming two characters John, and the ending was anti-climactic.

[SadisticCynic]

Maybe because it didn't suck...?

[Freakzilla]

Oh come on, how many people do you know named John?

[Redstar]

Seemed stupid reasons to me. These are people that freely describe themselves as "pretentious writers"... I plan on trolling them later with a short story featuring a Mary Sue, and see if they get it.

[inhuien]

OMG, what light through yonder window breaks? Omnious and Erasmus are the ultimate Ulrta-Mary Sue's, one for each of them.