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

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Out of the Dark by David Weber

Well. That was interesting. A fun read, and realistic for an alien invasion story. Essentially, the human race is doomed.

It's only in the last couple of chapters that Weber pulls a deus ex machina to save the day, although it's foreshadowed a bit.

I've removed my plot spoiler from my previous post, since I gave away the deus ex machina bit. (I'd heard it elsewhere, but didn't realise it was kept until quite so late in the book.)

I'm not sure that the book really works. The only logical conclusion to the book would be very different. But probably not something Weber would write.

But I did enjoy it, although some of the weapons talk got a bit too detailed for my tastes.

Next: A Rising Thunder by David Weber. The latest main-line Honor Harrington novel.

[CRussel]

Just finished a pair of books in C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner series: Deceiver, and Betrayer. These are #11 and #12 in the series, and finish up a story arc so I can wait until the price comes down before starting #13.

The Foreigner series is, IMNSHO, one of the best human/alien interaction series around, especially the earlier novels in the series where the focus was on that interaction. Later books, such as the two just finished, tend to take that interaction for granted since we've had a full story-line to build up the world. But they are none the less compelling reads and I very much enjoyed these two. Highly recommended if you've been following the series. If you're starting new, start at the very beginning with Foreigner. Unfortunately, you'll have to read some of the other early ones in paperback since they aren't in eBook format yet.

[CRussel]

Just started reading The Dark Vineyard, #2 in the Bruno, Chief of Police books by Martin Walker. If you haven't run across this series, and you enjoy a cozy mystery, then by all means grab a copy and give it a try. This is #2, but really, you can start anywhere I think.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Just started reading The Dark Vineyard, #2 in the Bruno, Chief of Police books by Martin Walker. If you haven't run across this series, and you enjoy a cozy mystery, then by all means grab a copy and give it a try. This is #2, but really, you can start anywhere I think.

Good to know. HarperCollins Canada has the first two on sale right now so I picked them up last week.

[AlexGrama]

I just started The Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien and his son, Christopher Tolkien. Wish me luck, I heard it's a difficult read.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by AlexGrama

I just started The Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien and his son, Christopher Tolkien. Wish me luck, I heard it's a difficult read.

It's like reading a textbook with the words in Pig Latin while you are half asleep and you have a migraine.

In English, it's dull as all can be.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's like reading a textbook with the words in Pig Latin while you are half asleep and you have a migraine.

In English, it's dull as all can be.

I think you are exaggerating how exciting it is .

I could never get past the first couple of chapters.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by AlexGrama

I just started The Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien and his son, Christopher Tolkien. Wish me luck, I heard it's a difficult read.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's like reading a textbook with the words in Pig Latin while you are half asleep and you have a migraine.

In English, it's dull as all can be.

Originally Posted by orlok

I think you are exaggerating how exciting it is .

I could never get past the first couple of chapters.

[CRussel]

I never even tried after the first brief encounter with it. Life is too short to waste it on this book.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Pretty good read and since the next book, Catching Fire, appears to be a pretty much immediate continuation of the story arc, I've decided to read the whole trilogy back-to-back.

Catching Fire was a very interesting and entertaining read, now on to Mockingjay!!

[gmw]

Originally Posted by AlexGrama

I just started The Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien and his son, Christopher Tolkien. Wish me luck, I heard it's a difficult read.

Here's some notes I made the last time I worked my way through it, who knows, it may help:

In short; this book is very hard work. The sheer magnitude and complexity of the world Tolkien created; language, peoples and a history going right back to creation, is absolutely phenomenal. But being amazing does not make it exciting reading. Most of the stories are told with a deliberate air of legend and myth and so for most of them you feel quite isolated and apart - not involved in the stories at all.

Since the collection is actually made from writings stretching over 50 years there are (apparently) some accuracy and consistency issues (internally and with Lord of the Rings). As far I can see such items are barely noticable because of the mythic feel to the writing, you simply dont expect and dont look for greater precision.

This is probably not the sort of book you would want to read very often. Indeed, unless you are a very dedicated fan of Lord of the Rings, it is very likely you would prefer to stay away from it. However, for the real Lord of the Rings enthusiast, there are some nice pieces buried in the book - you just have to plough through a lot to get to them. The problem is that, unless you have spent the time going through the earlier items, many of the names and situations of the better stories will be meaningless.

The story of "Beren and Luthien" is quite good. The tale "Of Turin Turambar" is rather tragic but offers more substance than many of the earlier stories. "Of the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath" is worth reading just to understand the relationship between Elrond and the Kings of Numenor - and later references to Earendil. The main reason for wanting to read "Akallabeth" would be to make sense of the start of the final story, it otherwise seems rather pointless and confusing. For all the complex history and explanations provided; how and when the Elves, Dwarves, Men, Ishtar, Balrogs, Orcs and even dragons came into existence, one surprising thing is the lack of explanation for Hobbits or the "river-folk" behind Gollum.

"Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age" makes interesting reading just to get an overall sense of the history that is most relevant to the story of the books of "Lord of the Rings" - for many it is this last tale that will be of most interest; it explains succinctly some details difficult to extract from "Lord of the Rings" itself.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by AlexGrama

I just started The Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien and his son, Christopher Tolkien. Wish me luck, I heard it's a difficult read.

Give up now before you regret it later.

[tecweston]

Just Finished:

- The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Star of India by Carole Buggé

I really enjoyed this one. It was short but a good mystery and allowed Holmes to show off his deductive reasoning powers.

Currently Reading:

- Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (70%)

- Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley (23%)

- Moby-Dick, or The Whale by Herman Melville (28%) [on hold]

[tecweston]

I just did the math: of the 24 books I've read this year, 9 have been Sherlock Holmes related (plus one short story). Plus I have another one lined up as soon as I finish Skeleton Crew called Moriarty: the Hound of the D'urbervilles.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by AlexGrama

I just started The Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien and his son, Christopher Tolkien. Wish me luck, I heard it's a difficult read.

It's a difficult read if you expect it to be a novel. It's more like a collection of myths and legends told in a variety of styles, occasionally repeating itself.

I've read it all the way through, and if you're interested in the back story to LoTR, it's fascinating.