Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Spoiler:

Why do you think that?

Spoilered discussion of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban plot point

Spoiler:

The problem with a time travel device like the time turner is that it introduces time travel into the HP world without ever fully exploring it.

Can they change events in the past? In which case, why not go back more than three hours, and remind Lupin to take his potion? Or any other the other many things that could be done, up to and including going back in time and killing Voldemort while he was still Tom Riddle!

Or if the past is fixed, including any travel to the past from the present, doesn't that mean that there is no free will?

And then we don't hear about the time turner ever again.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Which was good again, but the introduction of the

Spoiler:

time turner

was a bad move, IMO.

It is interesting reading it knowing the rest of the books. Enjoyable in a different way, knowing what's going to be coming up and spotting the hints I missed the first time around...

Originally Posted by alansplace

Spoiler:

Why do you think that?

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Spoilered discussion of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban plot point

Spoiler:

The problem with a time travel device like the time turner is that it introduces time travel into the HP world without ever fully exploring it.

Can they change events in the past? In which case, why not go back more than three hours, and remind Lupin to take his potion? Or any other the other many things that could be done, up to and including going back in time and killing Voldemort while he was still Tom Riddle!

Or if the past is fixed, including any travel to the past from the present, doesn't that mean that there is no free will?

And then we don't hear about the time turner ever again.

Spoiler:

Ah, all good points. I just hadn't thought that deeply about it.

[tecweston]

Just Finished:

- Not Taco Bell Material by Adam Carolla - I've heard a lot of these stories before on the podcast but they're still really funny, and some of them were brand new to me. I read the story where he farted into a coffee can and asked Jimmy Kimmel if he wanted to smell some freshly roasted Sumatran beans, and I couldn't stop laughing for ten minutes.

Currently Reading:


- The Moor by Laurie R. King (79%)
- The Passage by Justin Cronin (second time) (10%)

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by caleb72

I'm reading Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon at the moment. Bloody marvellous so far.

Originally Posted by Kindoll

I hope you enjoy it, I thought it was excellent and I've bought most of his other books too.

Finished this book and loved it. It wasn't a page-turner, but its magical story slowly seeped its way into me. Gave it 5 stars without hesitation and I'll be looking to read his other books.

Now I'm about a third of the way into an odd little indie effort, The Whitechapel Gambit by Marcin Wrona. It's a steampunk offering that's been quite interesting so far. Whether it's odd and goes nowhere or odd and really goes places I'm yet to determine.

[spindlegirl]

I just finished my DANL book When you give a Duke a Diamond, what a great read! It was a lovely thrilling historical romance, and I'll be looking for more books by this author.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Analog SF/F, October 2012 by Dell Magazine Authors. Hmm... fictionwise seem to have changed their conversion method. The Kindle version is now in the awful Kindle magazine format, with a greyscale cover. I think I'll convert from the ePub.

An average issue (which means I enjoyed it, but nothing in particular stood out).

Straight onto Analog SF/F, November 2012.

[CRussel]

Currently reading Dana Stabenow's A Deeper Sleep, #15 in the Kate Shugak series. As always, I'm enjoying it immensely. This book starts out with Kate and Jim still dithering, and even though I have "read" it (as an Audible book) before, I can't remember if they finally get over it in this one. And a bunch of other things going on with some of the subsidiary story lines, so all in all an above average book in an excellent series.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Currently reading Dana Stabenow's A Deeper Sleep, #15 in the Kate Shugak series. As always, I'm enjoying it immensely. This book starts out with Kate and Jim still dithering, and even though I have "read" it (as an Audible book) before, I can't remember if they finally get over it in this one. And a bunch of other things going on with some of the subsidiary story lines, so all in all an above average book in an excellent series.

That's the next one on my Kate Shugak TBR list, but lately I've been getting sidetracked and reading in other genres.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by alansplace

That's the next one on my Kate Shugak TBR list, but lately I've been getting sidetracked and reading in other genres.

I had gotten sidetracked, and found myself start and stopping several books. Decided to come back because I wanted one I knew I'd enjoy. I am not disappointed.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Just finished Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx.

Now I'm off to finish up some Robert Lynn Asprin Myth series so I can officially mark the series as complete.

[DiapDealer]

I'm about a third of the way though Peter Heller's debut (fiction anyway) - The Dog Stars. It's a post-apocalyptic tale (though not really sci-fi) told through the eyes of Hig: a Cessna pilot (and an avid outdoorsman—fly-fishing mainly, but some hunting, too) who, with his dog Jasper as co-pilot, buzzes around a small portion of what would have been Colorado nine years previously (anything further back than nine years is referred to simply as "before") just trying to figure out how to *be* under the new rules/situation. It's been quite heart-rending so far. Beautifully written. Not utterly bleak, as some post-apoc tends to be, but more introspective with several moments (so far) that can be considered truly uplifting.

Some comparisons are bound to be made to Cormac McCarthy (especially The Road) if only because of Heller's sparse prose (which can be long on sentence fragments and shy on punctuation). But unlike McCarthy—who just writes like that all the time—Heller's prose in this book seems to be a side-effect of attempting to portray the running monologue going on in Hig's brain. A brain that may or may not have been just a tad overheated from a fever sustained while surviving the virus that brought civilization to its knees; "before".

I realize a McCarthy comparison can just as easily be considered a reproach as it could a "ringing endorsement," but I had to be honest. There is some similarity, here. I'm a fan of McCarthy myself, but I wanted to make sure that readers—who might not be McCarthy fans—don't simply write this book off because of the stylistic similarities. It's not McCarthy and it's not The Road.

I think the book would be especially appealing to outdoorsy—majesty of nature—types. As I said ... heart-rending and uplifting, so far. Some really cool "Yeah, I can dig that" passages. There's some language and character behavior that I'm sure some might consider "foul," but it's not rampant.

[ScotiaBurrell]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm about a third of the way though Peter Heller's debut (fiction anyway) - The Dog Stars.

I think the book would be especially appealing to outdoorsy—majesty of nature—types. As I said ... heart-rending and uplifting, so far. Some really cool "Yeah, I can dig that" passages. There's some language and character behavior that I'm sure some might consider "foul," but it's not rampant.

great amazon reviews.

I added it to my wish list. Thank you.

[ScotiaBurrell]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Currently reading Dana Stabenow's [I]A Deeper Sleep[/I

just started her third 'Star' novel. I love the character and tend to ignore a bit the science fiction. I will miss her when finished.

Next I am going to examine technology thrillers: Daemon and Freedom by Daniel Suarez and Zero Day and Trojan Horse by Mark Russinovich.

[Quake1028]

I'm in an odd place. I'm in the middle/end of 3 books, and having a tough time finishing up any of them:

The Crazy Mixed-Up Corpse (Ed Noon Mystery) 63%
Amped 42%
The Legend of Huma (re-read) 81%

I need to just power through these but the motivation is escaping me at the moment.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Now a short break in The Dresden Files to re-read the 2nd James Potter book by G. Norman Lippert, James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper.

Attachment 92727

The James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper re-read went a little slowly as I spent some time playing with my new Kindle Fire. In my copy of Gatekeeper I've added a chapter (12a) that is a short story by Lippert called Petra's Getaway. I recommend that anyone reading Gatekeeper should read this short story between chapters 12 and 13. Anyway, it was quite enjoyable and I continue to look forward to the new one's release, James Potter and the Morrigan Web which is promised soon (this Autumn).

So, continuing my Dresden File re-read break I've just begun the G. Norman Lippert novella, The Girl on the Dock which I think of as James Potter 2.5.

Here's what Lippert says about it.

There are two ways you may choose to enjoy this story:

First, since this tale is, in many ways, a logical progression from my first two novels, you may choose to read those first. They can be found free online, beginning with www.elderscrossing.com. There, you will find the back story of the characters contained herein, which will surely allow you to appreciate this tale on a somewhat broader scale.

Second, you may choose to launch into this story as its own entity.

It was written to stand alone, even if much of the back story exists elsewhere. The struggles and concepts that form the core of this story, while fantastic and magical (and rather dark) will be familiar to most readers, even if they’ve never read the names of these characters before. If you choose to read the story on its own, it will be helpful (though not necessary) for you to be aware of a few things: first, our main character, the teenaged Miss Morganstern, is a member of a secret magical society that exists alongside the non-magical world. Second, she has had a rather unusual last year of schooling, during which she was the center of a rather shocking plot by some very bent wizards. The details of that plot will become known as the following story progresses, but the essential result of that plot was this: Miss Morganstern has discovered that she is cursed with the final, fragmented ghost of the most evil wizard of all time. Like a flame in a lantern, this wicked shred of soul lives inside her own soul, affecting her, influencing her. In this, Petra is not unlike all of us, cursed as we are with the dual nature of our humanity, constantly struggling between the twin polarities of darkness and light, goodness and selfishness.

And that, dear reader is the story of the story. I hope you enjoy this dark little fairy tale. If you do, let me know. There may be more.

Keep an eye on the water. Something is sure to come out of it.