What BOOK(s) are you reading? ARCHIVE

Having reread some series a while back I thought I'd reread some of the one-off novels for the umpteenth time: The Traveller in Black, Jack of Shadows, Wildraith's Last Battle, Jirel of Joiry, The Anubis Gates, Nifft the Lean, to mention half a dozen.

I listened to the unabrigded Tales of the Dying Earth from Jack Vance after I saw a mention here on the Fort. This was my first real try with audiobooks, and I am hooked. I even slow down and drive safer when I can listen while driving. Not a great book, but interesting. I am now listening to a collection of Philip K. Dick short stories. Minority Report and We Can Remember it for You Wholesale so far. Payback is next, which I'm looking forward to. I never saw the movie, but heard the story is good.

After a lengthy period of time during which I was only re-reading classic science-fiction and fantasy (along with my usual mix of history, current events and miscellaneous), I finally started reading mostly newer science-fiction and fantasy about two years ago. I got lucky the first time out, stumbling across the middle books of Richard Morgan's Kovacs trilogy.

The latest thing I tried was surprisingly good: Deadstock, by Jeffrey Thomas. The setting is a rough, gritty urban setting on an alien world, more human than not, but most of the aliens are actually human variants from other dimensions. The story comes across as a mixture of cyberpunk, j-horror, Vietnam war story, and Cthulhu mythos. The main character is a war veteran turned private investigator, and he has been hired by a wealthy CEO to locate his daughter's lost doll. Meanwhile, a local street gang member has disappeared, and his gang is trying is trying to find him. It's rare to read such a horrifying science-fiction story. Good stuff, and I look forward to reading more Punkworld stories by Thomas.

you should really check out the the John Carter of Mars books from librivox. Start with Princess of Mars. Fun old time classic SF and available in audio for free!

wdgrant wrote:

I listened to the unabrigded Tales of the Dying Earth from Jack Vance after I saw a mention here on the Fort. This was my first real try with audiobooks, and I am hooked. I even slow down and drive safer when I can listen while driving. Not a great book, but interesting. I am now listening to a collection of Philip K. Dick short stories. Minority Report and We Can Remember it for You Wholesale so far. Payback is next, which I'm looking forward to. I never saw the movie, but heard the story is good.

I really love the Vance I've read, but I've only read at sliver of Dying Earth. I'd heard that many of the characters in it weren't very likable. So most of what I've read is Planet of Adventure from which my monikers have come, Pnumekin and Chasch both being alien races from those books.

Can you recommend it?

Right now I'm reading both science and critical thinking books and likely will for most of the year. Right now I'm reading Dawkin's "The Selfish Gene." It's not a light read, but not too heavy either. It's a fascinating angle on evolution that I didn't pick up on in high school, namely that living things are "survival machines" crafted by genes for their own ends and for reproduction in particular. It's a worthwhile read.

I've also got a Louis L'Amour book, the only I've ever read, just about finished. It's called "Flint" and it's been a good, entertaining read.

Read the Dying Earth books, you won't regret it. And Nifft that I mentioned earlier. And for the hat trick: if you like Selfish Gene, you'll probably enjoy Dawkins other stuff too.

Notahandle wrote:

Read the Dying Earth books, you won't regret it. And Nifft that I mentioned earlier. And for the hat trick: if you like Selfish Gene, you'll probably enjoy Dawkins other stuff too.

Ok, I'm sitting here looking at Dying Earth. It's back in the hopper.

The only other Dawkins I've "read" was The God Delusion, which I listened to on Audible. I enjoyed it, but I really wanted to go to the core of some of his science writing. I've not been disappointed. I've also got some Lawrence Krauss, E.O. Wilson, and even Origin of Species on the reading list right now. I have Dawkin's "Greatest Show on Earth," but I think I may read "Unweaving the Rainbow" before I read that. Too much else to read right now.

I've read the earlier Dawkins, but not got round to the later ones. Krauss I haven't read as I find the idea of his Star Trek book, sort of fanboi-ish off-putting, if that makes sense. What is he like, worth trying?

For Wilson, would I be correct you're implying more The Future of Life, than Journey to the Ants or The Earth Dwellers? Hell, I've even got Holldobler & Wilson's The Ants, amongst a shelf full on the topic. Several discussions with a friend convinced me that a game about them could have some interesting aspects. Of course, the thing's been sat on a shelf for years. (It's a work in progress. *cough* *cough*)

A bizarre, sort of related thought's just popped into my head: Carl Zimmer's Parasite Rex, possibly a touch more than anyone'd like to know about how the insidious little bastards work. But entertaining in a life is weird kind of way.

The first book is made up of short stories and is okay. It has some neat ideas and was probably inventive for the time, but is now a little dated. I may read some of the later books if I can find them in our library system. They are longer stories from my understanding and I may enjoy them.

I will say that you are right about many unlikable characters. I found that good though. I don't like my heroes too good. I find it unrealistic. I prefer shades of gray.

Ants are just rad, and Wilson is of course an ant specialist. What I have of his in the hopper though is "On Human Nature" and may pass over that to read "Sociobiology". At least, I think that's the title.

I've not read any Krauss. I got to meet him though when our local CFI chapter brought him out a few years ago to give a talk in Portland that he had just given to the American Enterprise Institute. It was more a "science and society" talk than a science talk per se. I've got his "Fear of Physics" book ready to read. FWIW, the Star Trek book doesn't appeal to me personally, but I don't fault him for considering a popular channel for outreach. He's a science educator, and that's part of the gig.

Trouble is, the Trek book makes me wonder if he's actually a good science educator.

Again, I can't speak to his writing. However, I like the talks he's given, including a science talk about how it may be that something can come from nothing, at least in cosmology, here:

Just finished "Mind of the Raven," a book about ravens and raven behavior and psychology. It was pretty good.

Decided to read With the Old Breed, the book that half of The Pacific is based on.

Chasch: When I noticed the length I imagined I'd skip forward to the meat of it. But his introduction, coverage of the basics, and the background was so entertaining that I never did. I enjoyed it, thanks. My conclusion would be that he probably writes as good as he talks, so I should dig out that book list that's on my backup drive.