Recreational Literary Endeavors

AJ_Katon

Well-Known Member
Ghost Story: 


Bit depressing but heartwarming. Seeing the gang still hanging in but so battered. The climax was a bit meh though but points for sticking to the premise and doing some major good along the way.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
Reading the Wheel of Time.  I've had the first book for years, but never got around to reading it until now.  In book Four of Fourteen, and feel like the pacing could be a little faster, but still enjoying it.  From what I hear, it starts to bog down around book seven because so much stuff is happening, but I'll see when I get there.

Should we fuse this thread with the Book recommendation Thread?  They seem a bit redundant.

Also, would people be interested in a book of the week/month thread?  Think it could be fun if people were interested in something like that.
 

da_fox2279

California Crackpot
Just got finished Asimov's Robots trilogy: Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, Robots of Dawn. Haven't read them in years.

Reminded of why they were some of my favorite books ever. It's a little weird, re-reading them and getting the little flashes of where everything is going, because I couldn't remember every little plot twist and detail, what I did remember only added to the excitement of catching all the little clues sprinkled throughout the story.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
ETA for Peace Talks is supposed to be May 10th.  Hope that's true, but like most things on the internet, probably exaggerated or naively optimistic.
 

seitora

Well-Known Member
zerohour said:
ETA for Peace Talks is supposed to be May 10th.  Hope that's true, but like most things on the internet, probably exaggerated or naively optimistic.
well, I might buy it new hardcover, I dunno. I only have the first 6 books and was getting the rest from the library ever since. But Butcher is no Martin, that's for sure, so if he says May 10th I guess it'll be May 10th.

I actually had a little bit of thought about post Skin Game

Given Marcone's apparent co-operation with Mab in SG, I think him and her are actually a fair bit close. Not to the point of bed buddies obviously, but they both have the same personality of 'honour deals, screw you over if you break a deal' (in Mab's part she literally has to honour deals of course), and Marcone has money obviously to be able to hire freaking Vikings. He's not a plotter like Mab is though, but he's the kind of guy who probably made the logical deduction that the Fae are bad news, but they're worlds better than just about anyone else except for the White Court, who are too rigid in their ways and laws to be worth dealing with on a regular basis. I forget, who did Molly say she was going to have watching her parent's place for physical intruders? Sidhe or Marcone's men?

With the fall of the Red Court, I wonder if the Black Court or the White Court benefits at all, or if the Fomor really did fill in the void that quickly.

Reading Peace Talks outline, this is all stuff that'll be discussed, but something I've seen no inkling about as a consequence of Skin Game that I'd like to read further about is Goodman Grey and his heritage. He's only part-Naagloshii, but it shows Harry that it's possible for 'evil' creatures to have odd exceptions. There's the one prisoner in Demonreach who basically tells him to go away instead of ranting and raving, so that might be a possible ally in the future.
 

QE1

Well-Known Member
So I fail. I've been looking at collecting more of the Horus Heresy series from Warhammer 40k, someone was selling a nice collection of the first 18 on ebay and I forgot to log on to make my attempt at sniping them. The buyer got it for slightly over $2 a novel
 

Ordo

Well-Known Member
I just finished 'The Bands of Mourning'.....if you're a Mistoborn/Alloy of Law' fan...you are going to want to read this....
 

AJ_Katon

Well-Known Member
Cold Days

Dang. Molly...please be okay.

Devil is a Part-timer Vol 3

Overall cute and funny book but man the couple of feels towards the end. And the beginning of Plot?
 

da_fox2279

California Crackpot
Finished Best New Zombie Tales Trilogy. edited by James Roy Daley.

Some really great stories in here, starting with the first story. Some are humorous, some are chilling, and some are just downright touching. Well worth the time reading.
 

Ordo

Well-Known Member
Watashiwa said:
Ordo said:
I just finished 'The Bands of Mourning'.....if you're a Mistoborn/Alloy of Law' fan...you are going to want to read this....
Yeah, I just finished Bands of Mourning myself. Have you read Secret History yet?
I did, good stuff!
 

Watashiwa

Administrator
Staff member
Ordo said:
Watashiwa said:
Ordo said:
I just finished 'The Bands of Mourning'.....if you're a Mistoborn/Alloy of Law' fan...you are going to want to read this....
Yeah, I just finished Bands of Mourning myself. Have you read Secret History yet?
I did, good stuff!
Shadows of Self didn't do anything for me so I was a bit worried about Bands, but maaaaan it paid off. Glad the characters managed to get out of the city for once. The romance component turned out better than I thought, given that most story romances turn me off hard, hell, everyone got some fun character moments. I should really be looking forward to the next book more than I am...  but I'm too busy wondering what Mr. Secret History himself is doing in the "present".

Especially since Damnation is about to break loose on Roshar, and there's a Hunter on that Shardworld as of Words of Radiance.
 

seitora

Well-Known Member
AJ_Katon said:
Devil is a Part-timer Vol 3

Overall cute and funny book but man the couple of feels towards the end. And the beginning of Plot?
Nah man, Volume 3 felt like a derail from the original premise of the story. There were a couple of completely epic smackdowns by Maou against Emi in the book though ("Do all of you humans leave your villages when you declare war?" or something to that effect)
 

AJ_Katon

Well-Known Member
seitora said:
AJ_Katon said:
Devil is a Part-timer Vol 3

Overall cute and funny book but man the couple of feels towards the end. And the beginning of Plot?
Nah man, Volume 3 felt like a derail from the original premise of the story. There were a couple of completely epic smackdowns by Maou against Emi in the book though ("Do all of you humans leave your villages when you declare war?" or something to that effect)
Might need to reread for that but I do disagree on the original premise. It probably just means more Enta Isla stuff is gonna be coming in. Though I do hope the SoL stays forever.

I need more of Maou and Emi's pain...
 

da_fox2279

California Crackpot
Just read this, and thought it was an awesome idea that more countries need to adapt: German cabinet agrees to extend fixed prices to e-books
The German cabinet has agreed to extend to electronic books a law that fixes book prices to protect bricks-and-mortar stores from being driven out of business and ensure the availability of a wide range of publications.

In addition, the law will be applied to cross-border book sales to buyers in Germany, regardless of where the seller is based, Culture Minister Monika Gruetters said in a statement on Wednesday.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
Read Revisionary, the newest book in the magic ex libris series by Jim Hines.  Awesome series, and you should really check it out if you haven't done so already.
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
Currently reading Please Don't Tell My Parents I've Got Henchmen, the squeal to excellent Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain and the good Please Don't Tell My Parents I Blew Up the Moon. So far it is feeling a bit slow but I'm enjoying it so far. Will post updated when I'm done.
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
So I finished Please Don't Tell My Parents I've Got Henchmen, book three in the Please Don't Tell My Parents series.

The Please Don't Tell My Parents books are a young adult superhero series by Richard Roberts. So far is consists of three books. Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain, Please Don't Tell My Parents I Blew Up the Moon and the released a few days ago Please Don't Tell My Parents I've Got Henchmen. The next book has no release date and is set to be called Please Don't Tell My Parents I Have a Nemesis.

What is the Please Don't Tell My Parents series about? Summed up briefly, it is Silver Age Worm for kids (though that is just a description. It has nothing to do with Worm). The books star Penelope Akk, the daughter of two (mostly) retired superheroes. She is just coming into her powers as a mad scientist when a series of misadventures and misunderstandings causes her to secretly become the Supervillain Bad Penny. She is joined in this by her two friends Claire and Ray.

The first book is about their misadventures joining the Supervillain world. The second book is about their trip to Jupiter and the interplanetary wars they, in no particular order, star, stop and get involved with.

And that brings me onto the third book.

I enjoyed the third book but to me it lacked the manic energy of the first and the more structured story line of the second. After returning home from the Moon, Penelope and co return to school. As has been hinted before, the children of lots of super heroes and villains go to this school. If the book has a defining plot, it is mostly about them all coming out of the (cape) closet. Apart from that, the book some what meanders through the lives of the main characters. There is no single strong plot thread tying it all together, except perhaps character growth. There are a couple of super outings, both villain and hero, but nothing much really happens superhero plot wise. For example, the big final fight is entirely of Penelope's own making and frankly doesn't really matter that much as far as I could see.

But as I said, lots of character growth. Penelope and Ray get their relationship on. Ray's home life is expanded upon, complete with an ominous future for him and Penelope. Claire shows she's far far to into the Penelope-Ray relationship. The super cast is majorly expanded, with lots of kid supers with interesting powers. Beaddown is cool, Penelope's lesbian admirer is sparking, the magical bunny book is funny, Marcia went from stuck up queen bee to bipolar psycho and became a better person for it. All good.

As I said, I liked it but I think it was the weakest of the three so far.
 

da_fox2279

California Crackpot
Just finished United States of Japan. Interesting look at an alt-history, where Japan waited to attack Pearl Harbor until Germany was attack the east coast of the U.S.

The story follows two Japanese officers, one the head of Censorship in video games, the other a member of the Secret Police, who investigate a video game that posits what would have happened had Japan attacked Pearl Harbor early, and thus lost the war.

It's an great read, one that pays attention to history, while playing around with such anime/manga tropes like giant mecha, tanks driven by human brains, cyborg limbs, etc. There are lot of Japanese words thrown about here, but most are things any anime/manga fan would already be familiar with.

Some of the parts can be hard to read, in the sense of 'wow, how low can people sink in the name of justice/honor?' It's better than I make it sound.

Well worth the time spent reading it.
 

da_fox2279

California Crackpot
Just finished The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone. Great read, less than 300 pages, about an ancient breed of spiders that suddenly return to the surface world after being buried for thousands of years. Horrible, carnivorous spiders, that swarm like ants/termites and devour anything warm-blooded.

You know the shit had hit the fan when
China decides that the only solution to this problem is to nuke themselves.

Well worth the time and money, I'm already planning to pick up the sequel.
 

Glimmervoid

Well-Known Member
Just finished Perilous Waif by E. William Brown and very much enjoyed it. It really grabbed me and kept me wanting more. It is an adventure story, with lots of action, a bit of mystery to keep things interesting and very nice world. Anyway, this is the summary:

My name is Alice Long, and I’ve always known I was different.

When I was little I used to climb up to the highest branches of the housetree at night, and watch the starships docking at the orbital stations high above. Forty meters off the ground, watching ships thirty thousand kilometers overhead, with senses that could pick out radar pings and comm chatter as easily as the ships themselves. It all seemed perfectly natural at the time.

There were other kids with mods at the orphanage, but nothing like that. I learned fast to downplay my abilities, keep my mouth shut and try to blend in. Even as a kid I knew not to trust the Matrons. What would they do, if they realized the Adjustments that were supposed to make me a meek little herd animal didn’t do anything?

Then I messed up, and gave myself away.

Now I’m on the run, hoping against hope that the Matrons won’t try too hard to find me. Hoping to survive all the awful things that can happen to a girl on her own in space. Kidnappers, slavers, pirates and yakuza - no matter where I go, trouble always seems to find me.

Good thing I’m not as helpless as I look.
Perilous Waif is set in what I'd classify as a borderline transhuman setting. Lot's of weird stuff, but things haven't gone off the deep end. Yet anyway. I think one of the main themes of the book is about the fact that people and humanity as a whole is heading right towards post-human territory.

It stars Alice Long, who grows up an orphan on a pacifist nature planet, which is something of a problem since has some pretty hard-wired combat instincts. The central arc of the story is about Alice escaping said planet and then the adventures she has in space, all the while trying to solve the mystery of who she is and why she has the abilities she does. It all really works, is very fun and moves at a brisk pace. It's not high literature but I think it's more than worth $4 on kindle.
 

~NGD OMEGA~

Well-Known Member
Been sorta binging the Spirit Animals series on Audiobook since I wanted some quick and easy reads while jogging and it's taking forever to get the PJ series from Overdrive with my library account thanks to all the holds on them.

Just finished the first 7 in the original series as well as the special book between them. At first I was fairly miffed that the concept was more destined children get the uber special animals rather than normal animals they have to learn how to use effectively, but then the plot twists started coming in.

Reminded me of the old Animorphs days of scholastic before that series went off the rails, only even better in terms of some of the twists, particularly on who the mole was and why. As well as the bit about the Devourer. Brilliant move there. Not a perfect series by any stretch, you can see where the kids books bits get in the way and sometimes the developments are kinda silly, but I stand by that Animorphs comparison which was similar really again till it went loony at the end.
 

seitora

Well-Known Member
Games of Supervillainy, the second book in the Rules of Supervillainy series. I enjoyed the book, but ye gads, it needed another proofread. Probably a couple dozen sentences where there was either a word too many or a word omitted that makes the sentence nonsensical.
 

seitora

Well-Known Member
Secrets of Supervillainy, the sequel to the above mentioned
 

da_fox2279

California Crackpot
Been reading the Star Trek: Myriad Universes trilogy the past week. Interesting set of AU's here, including 'Places of Exile' from book 1, a story where the Voyager ended up staying in the Delta Quadrant instead of joining into an alliance with the Borg against Species 8472. This was one of the most interesting Voyager stories I've read, and I kinda wish this is how the show went, instead of the canon.

'A Gutted World' from book 2, where Kira (in a timeline where Cardassia never left Bajor) tries to bring a warning to the Federation about a conspiracy that threatens the entire Alpha Quadrant, just kept me intrigued all through out, even though I pretty much guessed the twist early on. Still exciting, though.

Currently going through book 3 at the moment, and I am reminded of why I liked reading Star Trek books in the first place: the stations of the canon fly right out the window in the best ones. Well worth reading if you're a Trek fan.
 
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