I like reading almost as much as I do fencing so I thought I would re-create that lost thread we had going on the original site.
I just finished reading "The Knife of Dreams" which is the 11th book in the Wheel of Time, "Pilgrim" by Sara Douglas, and "Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrel" by Suzanne Clarke. All were decent in their own rights.I am delving into "A Feast For Crows" by George R. R. Martin which has been an excellent series up to now. I just bought: "Straken" by Terry Brooks, "Knight" and "Wizard" bothe by Gene Wolf, and "Traitor's Knot" which is another 4th book(???) in a series which I have to go back and re-read because I have forgotten most of the storyline up to this point.
I just started readin Zen and Japanese Culture...
I had bought the book a couple years ago on Will's recommendation for the chapters on swordsmanship, but I am sort of interested in more now and I like Suzuki's writing.
Well, it's still the best book on epee fencing there is (zen and japanese culture).
Just about to pick up "Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" from the library. re-reading various works of Plato, and "Caesar and Christ" by Will (and Arial) Durant. I've said it before...you don't need to go to school, you need to read Durant's massive history of our world, and some math.
And whenever the library lets me get it, "One bullet away: making of a marine officer" about Nathanial Fick, who was a Lt. in Marine Force Recon in Iraq, and I wouldn't be suprised if he ends up in the senate. Old-school american kinda stuff.
I hope the econ book makes me take longer than 4-5 hours to read it.
Oh, I'm also going to start on the histories of Tacitus, a roman historian. You can read them (along with some other classics) off the MIT site at http://classics.mit.edu/
Tacitus at http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/histories.html
Picked up a graphic novel...actually a compilation of comic books called Marvel 1602. Issues #1-8. Interesting storyline with all your favorite Marvel heroes showing up during the transfer of the Throne of England from Queen Elizabeth's hands into King James of Scotland's hands. I am about 2/3 of the way through it. I haven't read a comic in years and while some of the names are quite silly: "Petros (Peter) Parquagh" for instance, the illustrations are top notch. Very enjoyable.
Cheers,
JS
Oh yah, finished "Feast For Crows" a while back now. It was good although it left off rather abruptly but I guess that should be expected when a book is split into 2 volumes because of its length. With this book the whole story will now take 7 volumes instead of the planned 4 according to the author. He filled out some of the storylines nicely but others, of course, I left lacking, until the 4th volume. It will be interesting to see how he ties this all up with only 2 volumes left...of course the 7 volume number may increase to 9 before it is really done in that case.
Finished "Straken". I thought the ending of this Shannara series was a bit rushed. I was expecting more than 30 pages but things got wrapped up quickly after taking 2 1/2 books to setup. Enjoyable yet not quite filling enough in my opinion.
Finished Knight by Gene Wolfe. I found the book a little confusing. Since it is told in a voice of the main character writing a letter to his brother I could allow myself to bypass some of the quirkiness in the style of writing and the disjointed way some of the chapters failed to fully mesh with the last. It was a fun story, decent characters and a good overall introduction to this new world directly through the eyes and thoughts of the main character. My first thought was "Better ideas than execution" and although as I said that may well have been intended it didn't work too well for me at first. Then, I started "Wizard" which is seemingly much more polished...of course assuming that what I said holds true for the first book in the series, there is a reason why the second book would seem this way as well. It will be interesting to see if this pattern continues through the entire book and compare all the styles of the 3 books in the series. If the author is actually doing what I believe he may be attempting, it would be brilliant. But I need the hard evidence of the final book in the series before I say anything. There are two things he may be attempting: illustrating the growing maturity of the main character through the devised writing style...(this would be cool althought the more obvious choice) or illustrating the ascension of the main character to higher planes of existence (which would explain the elevation in the writing style as well). It really depends on how this second volume and the third turns out though. Interesting concepts if this is the case and I wouldn't put it past Gene Wolfe to be this crafty.
Yah although I don't really think he intended it though. Robert Jordan obviously did. He had a nice 3 or 4 volume story that is now rumored to be ending in 2 books (13 volumes in all) although personally I think some of the story lines are going to get rushed. Martin split Feast because he was hitting a 1500 page ceiling and still not finished plus the book was already a year over-due. I don't think he realized how much writing his overall story arc would take. I don't think there is a lot of fluff in Feast although he has continued to add a few more characters.
I agree. I have made it through half of quicksilver before I had to put it down and have System of the World sitting gathering dust. I need to be in the mood and have enough time for those books. I like them but I just haven't had enough time to give them the attention they deserve.
You might be correct in that, Tom. I hadn't been considering the writer's ego factor. Serenity is dead official according to Joss Whedon and I think he would have the final say on that. Bummer, but true. No chance for any more movies even me thinks.
I read a interesting comic book series the other day. Marvel 1602. Interesting little piece of work. I hadn't read a comic in I don't know how long. I would recommend it if you like the Marvel Universe.
I am also making my way through an interesting history / documentary type book called: "Nightwork". It is subtitled: "A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT" by T.F. Peterson. It is interesting reading and the large number of pictures really help to tell the story of the history of the works of art and science.
I am finishing the sixth book of Simon R. Green's Nightside series. It is basically a pulp detective / fantasy series. Nightside is this place created in the heart of London where neither Heaven nor Hell can impose their direct will. It is always night and is pictured as taking something like the red-light district and multiplying it by a thousand. Any desire a person has can be fulfilled in the Nightside. The series focuses on John Taylor, a detective who, through a series of cases, discovers who his mother is and how the Nightside came to be.
Lots of entertainment value and some pretty cool characters to boot like Razor Eddie punk God of the Straight Razor or The Lamentation (a god who claims the souls of all the suicides)...
Each book is a short romp, about 220 pages and I have been reading them in about 3 hours. Nothing brainy about these books but they are a lot of fun.
I have also been listening to: Delivered from Distraction. A good book about ADHD and actually pretty entertaining in its own way since the Author has ADD too.