A jolly good read?

[FrankMunro-371]

Not quite. There's still a few books out there I'd like to read, and a couple coming out this year I'm interested in. Tom Wescott has a fuller length book out soon, Paul Begg & John Bennett have a book out in the summer, and there is a long delayed book on Donald Swanson that looks great. I have about 8 ripper books on the shelf at home yet to be read. I wonder if I ave more ripper books than you have WW1 books? :icon_biggrin:[/QUOTE]

Fair comment. I will have to check how many I have....

 

[lemonjelly]

i think surface detail was the last Banks i read, the one before HS. Have you read any of the early Culture books (Phlebas, Player, Use)?

Authors may be a bit like bands. they have some great ideas which they have time to nurture into great books before being "discovered". after that it's more of a struggle, though they may have built up a fanbase that still loves the later stuff that may only be half as good, if that.

yeah the bridge is a great book. walking on glass is too, if a little weird (which i like). wasp factory, complicity are fun, and espedair street which is about a band - i think i envisaged Fish from Marillion when reading that. canal dreams, bit crap and avoid song of stone.

not read dead air or stonemouth funnily enough.

Yeah, read Phlebas, and I did enjoy Player, even though at times I wasn't sure what was going on. Consensus seems to be early Banks is the best stuff. I thought canal dreams was ok, but slow. Liked espadair street (one of the first I read). I went a long time reading very little fiction and have been trying to address that in the past 2-3 years.

Also agree that authors will have poor books, like artists will have their poor albums. But we're usually keen to give them the benefit of the doubt based on past performance.

 

[lemonjelly]

Fair comment. I will have to check how many I have....

A year ago I counted my ripper books and was a little disconcerted at the total...:killa:

 

[Parkins left foot]

A year ago I counted my ripper books and was a little disconcerted at the total...:killa:

I'm worried that you have an unhealthy interest in this - not standing quite so close next time we meet

 

[Wilf Wolf]

Is The God Delusion worth reading? I've been meaning to check it out for a while.

What Koontz are you reading? I thought Watchers was superb but nothing I've read from him since was able to match it.

The God Delusion is excellent. Definitely worth a read.

 

[Langers]

Currently reading Darth Plagueis by James Luceno.

First Star Wars novel I've read and it's surprisingly really good. It's basically the story of how Palpatine was discovered by his master (Plagueis) as a young, ambitious and basically fucking nasty little scrote and it's a cracking read.

 

[lemonjelly]

Is The God Delusion worth reading? I've been meaning to check it out for a while.

What Koontz are you reading? I thought Watchers was superb but nothing I've read from him since was able to match it.

Apologies, I only answered one of your questions.
The God delusion is a great read. I'd strongly encourage you to read it. TBH, given your humanist leanings I'd recommend the Comte-Sponville book too. A related brilliant book is Alain de Botton's Religion for Atheists, which is superb.

 

[lemonjelly]

I'm worried that you have an unhealthy interest in this - not standing quite so close next time we meet

A chap at work expressed some concern about this "unhealthy interest". He went quiet when I pointed out the majority of his books were about Hitler & other despots/tyrants.
I discussed this with another chap at work, who feels that people sometimes have deep interests in the opposite side of their psyche. In example the chap mentioned above is quite the opposite of tyrants. Another expert on terrorism is one of the mildest mannered people you'd meet. Totally unscientific, but I liked the theory!

 

[nimrod]

Yeah, read Phlebas, and I did enjoy Player, even though at times I wasn't sure what was going on. Consensus seems to be early Banks is the best stuff. I thought canal dreams was ok, but slow. Liked espadair street (one of the first I read). I went a long time reading very little fiction and have been trying to address that in the past 2-3 years.

Also agree that authors will have poor books, like artists will have their poor albums. But we're usually keen to give them the benefit of the doubt based on past performance.

yeah it's a normal reaction, though I try to avoid it.
if you've done phlebas and player you should do UoW. can't guarantee you'll love it, but it's all killer, no filler.

at the moment i'm reading The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk which is about a guy wondering around various parts of Istanbul looking for his wife. quite a few literary references in it. pretty good so far, though I had a break a while back and just getting back into it.

 

[Parkins left foot]

'The Ridge' by Michael Koryta

Critic's comments on the cover infer that he can be compared to Stephen King - not sure that it did, quite, but more than enjoyable nonetheless

Started off as a fairly stock American small town police drama, but went off in odd directions & couldn't see the real story till fairly near the end.

Will be worth trying some of his other books

 

[PPB]

' Hidden Figures ' by Margot Lee Shetterly. Well worth a read about some extremely clever ladies.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

The History of Modern Russia by Robert Service.

A bit long winded at times, but it gets the important moments spot on.

 

[Keef]

The History of Modern Russia by Robert Service.

A bit long winded at times, but it gets the important moments spot on.

His Lenin,Stalin and Trotsky biographies are excellent,I like his writing,and more importantly he keeps the chapters short but gets everything in,Simon sebag-montefiore has chapters,of 60 odd pages long,now he does go on a bit

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I am into Book Seven of the Wheel of Time. Only SEVEN more to go. It is an okay fantasy I suppose, but Jordan does go on a bit. I am determined to finally finish it though.

Also reading Alexander the Great by Robin Lane Fox which an excellent history and very interesting.

 

[Langers]

Darth Plagueis

The first Star Wars novel I've read and it was BRILLIANT - it's about Palpatine's master, how he found him on Naboo and decided to train him in the Dark Side, and how that eventually starts off the events of Episode I. Ignore the fact that Episode I is absolute bobbins because this book is fantastic, really fleshing out Palpatine's character and Darth Plagueis himself is a really interesting character. Nice to read a Star Wars story that isn't just "Jedi = good, Sith = bad" and one that explores the whole mid-chlorian stuff (which I fucking hated in the prequels - this makes it far more interesting).

This book isn't classed as canon anymore though, merely 'legend' which is a pity, but I've got some new ones to read as well which fill in the gaps between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

I'd recommend Plagueis to any fellow Star Wars nerd who enjoys a good read.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Try and find Splinter of the Minds Eye by Alan Dean Foster in a second hand bookshop - really good star wars novel

Plus there was a series of three Han Solo books - The Lost Legacy was one of them, can't remember the titles of the other two. Might be worth a go before the Solo prequel hits the screens.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Han Solo at Stars End
Han Solos Revenge
Han Solo and the lost Legacy

There is also a second series of three Han Solo books published much later and a series called the Lando Calrissian adventures which ties it all into the main movie canon.

 

[Langers]

Splinter of the Minds Eye is one I'd like to try but I'll probably not bother with the Han Solo ones as they'll no doubt want to re-write his backstory with the film, I'd probably end up confusing myself!

As for the latest releases, I've got the first two Aftermath novels and Tarkin (by the same author as Darth Plagueis but for some reason Tarkin is canon but Plagueis isn't!).

Apparently, the best new Star Wars novel is Lost Stars which I might try if I can get hold of it.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Thought I would bring this little gem of a thread back to life.

I am currently reading The Plantagenets by Dan Jones. Fantastic history of the period from Henry II - Richard II. There is a second volume called the Hollow Crown that I need to get hold of as it covers the Wars of the Roses.

I thoroughly recommend it. I am getting heavily into history texts at the moment, and most of my bookshelf is ancient history, so some medieval stuff is a welcome change. Next I fancy getting something moderately heavy duty on the Crusades as the Richard the Lionheart chapters of Dan Jones book have got me fascinated by the bloke.

 

[UKYankieWWFC]

To my shame, never read 1984 by George Orwell, daughter decided she wanted to go to the local book store for some new books, 1984 on sale for $9.99 so I thought I'd treat myself!