Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: saggs on September 18, 2011, 11:37:41 PM
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So who all in here reads a lot?
I read a lot and recently got a Kindle, which I love since it allows be to get books instantly. I've been on a sci-fi/fantasy kick lately, but have completely struck out on the last 2 books I've tried. Both where recommended to me.
Last one I just tried was The Hunger Games, which I had heard a lot about and got rave reviews. Well I've got through about 1/3 of it and can't take it anymore. It SUCKS... big time. I haven't been this disappointed with a popular book since Eragon (this is worse). I do not understand all the positive reviews it has gotten. The plot has promise (even though it's kinda cliche) but the writing and execution is HORRIBLE. Written in 1st person present tense????? Seriously :rolleyes: Cliche single dimensional characters with no depth or development (how can you do character development in 1st person) forced dialog, forced sexual tension, it honestly reads like a middle school creative writing essay that scored a B- yet somehow got dragged out for 300pgs.
So anyway I just got frustrated and deleted it (there's $6 wasted), now I need some recommendations. What's a good sci-fi or fantasy series? Something in the vein of Orson Scott Card's Ender series, or Larry Niven's Ringworld, or Arthur C. Clarke, or C.S. Lewis, or Tolkien, all of which I recommend.
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I thought Septimus Heap by Angie Sage was pretty good, but I haven't read through the whole series yet.
Just be warned this is coming from a guy who wants to continue reading the Eragon series. :D
Frankly though I think Eragon himself is an idiot, I just want to see how Gallywag finally gets whipped.
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At Baen they have the free library. Included are instructions for Kindle downloads, 100 + novels, no DRM they are yours...
at Baen.com
Regards,
Kevin
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if you like scifi and havent read him yet - Iain M Banks (esp the culture novels.) start with Consider Phlebas and read in order - they get better along the way :aok
edit: pretty much any Philip K Dick is worth reading too :)
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sci fi on Kindle?
Culture novels as mentioned by Holmes are great
also make sure you check out Altered Carbon and the other two Takeshi Kovacs books by Richard Morgan :aok
fantasy...Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind and sequel are must reads
i've personally enjoyed the Game of Thrones books a lot as well ;d
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Thanks for the tips, I'm taking notes. :aok
pretty much any Philip K Dick is worth reading too :)
Yup, I do like Philip K Dick. I've read 3 of his; A Scanner Darkly, The Penultimate Truth, and Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? Though that was several years ago, worth a reread... perhaps I'll look into more of his stuff as well. Liked them, except for A Scanner Darkly I remember as being a little slow.
P.S. Has anyone read Isaac Asimov's Foundation series? It sounds interesting. The only Asimov I've read was I, Robot which is great, but it's short stories, so the entertainment isn't as long.
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Brian Aldiss's Heliconia Trilogy is pretty stunning, although massive in scale.
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War and Peace--- long read, but a decent story after the first 300 pages.
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David Eddings - Belgariad series
Terry Brooks - Shannara series + Magic Kingdom of Landover series
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time series
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Not much of a SciFi guy, but if you want any suggestions on WW2 era books that are available on the kindle, and that ive read, let me know.
Love my Kindle as well, I now dont have to keep buying bookcases for my house :aok
( i still buy some "actual" books,not near what i used to though)
Not to hijack, but does anyone get books thru audible.com for the kindle? Any feedback?
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I get audio books through audible ;D the Ricky Gervais Show podcasts are amazing
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some of the very best fantasy books every written are from Terry Brooks...The Shannara series....the first three books especially the third book, called the "Wishsong of Shannara" is about the best there is.
another great read is a book called "swansong" by Robert Mccammon very good book :aok
and the there is the "incarnations of immortality" by Piers Anthony 7 awesome books
for scify "Battlefield Earth" by L Ron Hubbard The movie was atrocious but book is great :aok
any Robert E Howard
or Edger Rice borrows
also a book done by Stephen King and Peter Straub called "The Talisman" great book :aok
you cant go wrong with any of these :salute
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I see you already know Niven's Ringworld series, so make sure you also read his Dream Park series (4th book in series released just last month). They're in kindle.
For fun military sci-fi, try Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg stories. Both Niven and Pournelle are actively working on getting all of their works put on Kindle.
For fantasy, try Raymond Feist's Magician - Apprentice and Magician - Master. Those are the first 2 books in a lengthy multi-branched series, but you can read those two and be satisfied. The next few books in the series are good too, but the last half-dozen or so aren't nearly as well written.
If you want to grow up to be a girl someday, try Anne McCafferey's Dragonsong, dragonsinger, and dragondrums trillogy. Those are fun to read but a bit juvenile. She develops the world a lot more in other books based on the same planet, but those can be read by themselves and are quick and fun, if a bit girly and juvenile. The same goes for McCaffery's Crystal Singer trillogy - girly and juvenile, but I thought the premise was interesting enough to be a fun read especially if you can find the book cheap.
They're way overpriced on kindle right now, but the first couple of "Spellsinger" books by Alan Dean Foster were fun too. Get them for $.99 in used paperback instead of spending $9.99 on kindle...
Almost anything by Robert Heinlein, including his juveniles, are worth reading. His last few books went weird but his early stuff up through "The number of the beast" are great.
For non-fiction, The Reagan Diaries are fascinating.
If you want to know why the Iraq and Afghanistan wars went stupid, get "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by T.E. Lawrence. You'll get the picture in the first couple of chapters and then you'll continue reading just because it's like watching a 30 car NASCAR wreck in slow motion but with CNN current-events subtitles added by your own imagination.
I second the recommendation to try the Baen free library. The Honor Harrington series could have been girly and juvenile... but they aren't. Recommended. Pournelle has a couple of books in the Baen free library, and they're both well worth the 30 seconds it takes to stick them on your kindle.
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eagle
spellsinger was a very good series :aok
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for scify "Battlefield Earth" by L Ron Hubbard The movie was atrocious but book is great :aok
or Edger Rice burroughs
^^^ This. Battlefield Earth is a great book. The movie has very little in common with the book, just like the movie Starship Troopers has almost nothing in common with the book, except the name.
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P.S. Has anyone read Isaac Asimov's Foundation series? It sounds interesting. The only Asimov I've read was I, Robot which is great, but it's short stories, so the entertainment isn't as long.
The Foundation series really dragged on because the original three books never wrapped up anything. After reading the original Foundation series but before reading the "final" book which was actually the first book in the story timeline, I concluded that it was a big joke on his readers. A fascinating detective puzzle thriller that never ended and we never got to find out who really did what. I think it gets wrapped up in the "first" book "Prelude to Foundation", and if you read that one first then you might as well skip the whole rest of the series :(
If you can put up with that, go for it. I recommend reading the original trillogy first, then give the rest of them a whack to fill in the gaps. Read this first though, or you might get the books in the wrong order: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_series
If you read the "prequel" books first, the puzzles in the original trillogy will probably be tedious and boring.
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some of the very best fantasy books every written are from Terry Brooks...The Shannara series....the first three books especially the third book, called the "Wishsong of Shannara" is about the best there is.
+1
Sad part about it is my dog ate my trade version of Wishsong. Ugh!
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hitchhiker's guide
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+1
Sad part about it is my dog ate my trade version of Wishsong. Ugh!
oh man.....thats my favorite one in the whole series.....after this the books just go downhill.
Garret Jax is one of the coolest and baddest characters ever created :aok
Allanon is pretty awesome also :D
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I started reading Brandon Sanderson and found his mistborn trilogy good. I thought The Way of the Kings was a great read
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How about a mix of WW2 and Sci-Fi. This is the cover of the first book of the "Worldwar" series.
(http://science-fiction-books.com.au/media/ccp0/prodlg/Worldwar-in-the-balance-Harry-Turtledove.jpeg)
Awesome story with great characters, real, fictional, and alien.
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if you want a really good war book take "Give War a Chance" by P.J. O'rourke.
was a pretty good read after the first few chapters.
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P.S. Has anyone read Isaac Asimov's Foundation series? It sounds interesting. The only Asimov I've read was I, Robot which is great, but it's short stories, so the entertainment isn't as long.
I started here and did not finish I think some of his writing style is brilliant, he understood some of the secrets to effectively pulling in the reader. It was interesting how he doesn't finish a thought and jumps to new character and time, creating a vacuum hoping you'll find out what the hell is really going on. Nothing ever gets wraped up so I felt lost with no closure. So I jumped ship after first book.
He is considered a god in the Sci-fi stuff because of some of the tech stuff he foresaw, and acuratly described.
He gets a two stars out of five from me.
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(Really evil Grin)
Go to the Baen free library, get 1632..... Fair warning, the story cycle now runs to over five million words. Disclamer, about seventy thousand of those words were writen by me and my wife. Grin
Regards,
Kevin
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I would suggest Steven Brust. Start with "Jhereg" . Also highly recommend The "Black Company" series by Cook .
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also a book done by Stephen King and Peter Straub called "The Talisman" great book :aok
there is an even better sequel called 'Black House', check it out :aok
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there is an even better sequel called 'Black House', check it out :aok
wow never heard of it...I will check it out thanx :rock
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hitchhiker's guide
Read the whole series already. Though I liked it, I wouldn't call it sci-fi, more sci-fi parody, but it is great for a laugh. :lol
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Hunger games didn't suck, it was awesome.
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How about a mix of WW2 and Sci-Fi. This is the cover of the first book of the "Worldwar" series.
(http://science-fiction-books.com.au/media/ccp0/prodlg/Worldwar-in-the-balance-Harry-Turtledove.jpeg)
Awesome story with great characters, real, fictional, and alien.
Just finished reading the wikipedia articles... Did you read all 7 of the books?
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I recommend "ChickenHawk" Its an autobiography of a helicopter pilot in Vietnam.
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I recommend "ChickenHawk" Its an autobiography of a helicopter pilot in Vietnam.
Excellent book.
The follow-up "Chickenhawk: Back In The World" was equally great.
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If you want something very similar to Tolkien, look up Dennis L McKiernan. I read his early duology years ago, I think the first book was called The Brega Path... It's the only novel I can remember ever reading and actually stopping for a moment when I realized my heart was racing.
Only Robert Jordan's first few book are worth the time, he turned into a giant hack just pumping out crap.
Big thumbs up for anything by David Eddings, I enjoyed his novels very much.
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Excellent book.
The follow-up "Chickenhawk: Back In The World" was equally great.
I never knew there was a follow up :O Same author?
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I never knew there was a follow up :O Same author?
Yep, it's about his ill-fated career as a drug smuggler and the aftermath.
Robert Mason was very much a mean machine.
EDIT: Read this little tidbit from the prologue...
http://www.robertcmason.com/pid3backintheworld.html
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Yep, it's about his ill-fated career as a drug smuggler and the aftermath.
Robert Mason was very much a mean machine.
EDIT: Read this little tidbit from the prologue...
http://www.robertcmason.com/pid3backintheworld.html
Wow Thanks!!!
Weapon looks really interesting too. Getting em now :aok
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Did you see that enders game is being made into a movie?
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I never knew there was a follow up :O Same author?
I have chickenhawk, but never read it. Maybe i will!
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Did you see that enders game is being made into a movie?
Really? It's about time. Always wondered why nobody had made that movie/movie series yet.
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Really? It's about time. Always wondered why nobody had made that movie/movie series yet.
Decades overdue. Its on my list to reread now. I wonder how much, if any, of enders-shadow will be incorporated. Would love to see none of it& a separate movie later
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Just finished reading the wikipedia articles... Did you read all 7 of the books?
Yes I have, and they are some big books. The paperbacks are over 500 pages each and in small print. That being said, the first 4 are some of of my favorite books. I'll probably reread them this summer.
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I wonder how much, if any, of enders-shadow will be incorporated. Would love to see none of it& a separate movie later
I agree, it just cries out to be made into a series.
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I have chickenhawk, but never read it. Maybe i will!
Be warned that it is extremely violent and can be emotionally challenging for some readers.
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Be warned that it is extremely violent and can be emotionally challenging for some readers.
True, but it also has humor, and for me it really put me drew me into what it was like for him. Reading Chickenhawk litterally put me as the author experiencing what he did, Including the violence, drama, humor, social and physical issues that the other went through. In my opinion this is one of the best first hand accounts or a pilot in vietnam, but it doesnt read as an autobigraphy, it reads like a novel.
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Be warned that it is extremely violent and can be emotionally challenging for some readers.
Awe, so sweet to worry about me.
I'm sure I'll be fine.
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Really? It's about time. Always wondered why nobody had made that movie/movie series yet.
Because Card kept the movie rights to himself, and wrote his own screenplays, and has been very protective of it. Basically he wants it done his way or not at all. There have been several deals in works throughout the years, one with Warner Bros that Card killed because they refused to do it his way. Because it is a story about super-genius kids, it is obviously difficult to cast, so in previous movie deals, production companies wanted to use animation or teenagers in the main roles, which Card flat refused. I think this was smart on his part, it's such an iconic novel it would be a shame for someone to make a crappy movie of it, just look what happened with Clive Cussler and Sahara.
Looks like this time it is actually happening though, being is one of my all-time favorite novels, I sure hope it's a decent movie. Probably a single though, the rest of the Ender series would be to slow for movies. The entire Shadow series however would make fantastic movies.
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Because Card kept the movie rights to himself, and wrote his own screenplays, and has been very protective of it. Basically he wants it done his way or not at all. There have been several deals in works throughout the years, one with Warner Bros that Card killed because they refused to do it his way. Because it is a story about super-genius kids, it is obviously difficult to cast, so in previous movie deals, production companies wanted to use animation or teenagers in the main roles, which Card flat refused. I think this was smart on his part, it's such an iconic novel it would be a shame for someone to make a crappy movie of it, just look what happened with Clive Cussler and Sahara.
Looks like this time it is actually happening though, being is one of my all-time favorite novels, I sure hope it's a decent movie. Probably a single though, the rest of the Ender series would be to slow for movies. The entire Shadow series however would make fantastic movies.
Interesting! I lokk forward to it even more knowing the author has a hand in the project.
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I would suggest Steven Brust. Start with "Jhereg" . Also highly recommend The "Black Company" series by Cook .
:aok
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Because Card kept the movie rights to himself, and wrote his own screenplays, and has been very protective of it. Basically he wants it done his way or not at all. There have been several deals in works throughout the years, one with Warner Bros that Card killed because they refused to do it his way. Because it is a story about super-genius kids, it is obviously difficult to cast, so in previous movie deals, production companies wanted to use animation or teenagers in the main roles, which Card flat refused. I think this was smart on his part...
that was refreshing to hear. I bet it will be well worth the wait!
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I'm sure I'll be fine.
I didn't mean to suggest otherwise, just felt obligated to throw that out there for all parties.
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;)
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Because Card kept the movie rights to himself, and wrote his own screenplays, and has been very protective of it. Basically he wants it done his way or not at all. There have been several deals in works throughout the years, one with Warner Bros that Card killed because they refused to do it his way. Because it is a story about super-genius kids, it is obviously difficult to cast, so in previous movie deals, production companies wanted to use animation or teenagers in the main roles, which Card flat refused. I think this was smart on his part, it's such an iconic novel it would be a shame for someone to make a crappy movie of it, just look what happened with Clive Cussler and Sahara.
Looks like this time it is actually happening though, being is one of my all-time favorite novels, I sure hope it's a decent movie. Probably a single though, the rest of the Ender series would be to slow for movies. The entire Shadow series however would make fantastic movies.
This. It is one of Hollywood's inside jokes right now - who/what/where/when will it ever finally get made.
Here we go, again.
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Recently read:
Game of Thrones (great books... almost like Dune in Fantasy, mostly a political intruigue story)
King Killer Chronicals Books 1 and 2 (Also great books, Fantasy which isn't my normal genre, kind of goes along with Skyrim and Dragon speech, but different.)
Right now I'm finishing up the Dreaming Void series of books by Peter F Hamilton, it's the 2nd series in this universe, lots of sex and violence and way too many characters to keep track of, but good stuff.
The Diamond Age (Interesting book on Nanotech and Hippies)
I've read quite a few other sci-fi novels which is what I mostly read, but nothing really has stood out besides the Peter F Hamilton books.
For non-fiction I've recently finished
The Ottoman Centuries -- Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire by Lord Kinross, a very good read and great primer for looking at the mess of the middle east and the balkans we have today.
Collapse -- How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, this was garbage, don't read it. The guy is exactly the type of person we hate in MT, and his whole book tries to tie everything back to MT. Very Lame.
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^^^ This. Battlefield Earth is a great book. The movie has very little in common with the book, just like the movie Starship Troopers has almost nothing in common with the book, except the name.
Really? Nothing L. Ron wrote is great... It's not Science Fiction, it's Scientologist Fiction. :P
Witness the amazing transformational powers of the Church of Psychotonomy!
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81081063/
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On the Ender's Game movie topic.
Orson Scott Card talking about the movie. Over a year old (script is done, and roles are cast now) but still relevant. He's very open about the large chunk of the story they have had to cut out. Basically they will show Ender leaving for battle school, and the next scene will be him in Bonzo's Army, without a lot of battle room scenes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hik-3WWanvs&feature=related
P.S. I'm reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' Princess of Mars right now. Not a real deep story, just a masculine adventure story that doesn't take itself -or science- to seriously. Really it's a break from the deep thinking philosophical stuff I usually read. Plus it's kind of fun to see how science fiction writers (even if they weren't called that beck then) envisioned Mars in 1910.