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

[nekokami]

I'm trying to decide whether to buy my next Pratchett book in Mobipocket or LIT format. I tend toward the latter, so I can be sure of being able to access the content wherever I want, but footnotes are a major feature of Pratchett's work, so I want a format that handles them well. My iLiad, naturally, will only read Mobipocket (of the available DRM nonsense formats). I can convert a LIT book, but I've heard the footnotes lose something in the translation. Can anyone comment on this?

[jmorton]

I just got my Sony Reader, so I decided to initiate it with Spook Country by William Gibson. It seemed like a natural choice for this medium.

[Azayzel]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

<sigh>

Piers Anthony is one of the best in the genre at taking an idea and running with it. Unfortunately, he's one of the worst at knowing when to stop, and tends to run things right into the ground, with Xanth a prime example.

I'll recommend the first one or two of the Xanth books, but not beyond. I do highly recommend early books like _Macroscope_ and the "Orn, Omnivore, 0X" trilogy.

Anthony uses the profits from his writing to buy undeveloped land near him in Florida and keep it undeveloped. Xanth books sell, so he writes Xanth books. I admire the motive, but can't read the work.
______
Dennis

You have that right, about running a genre into the ground. He definitely did this with the Xanth series, I think they're up to 24 or 25 by now. I read one of the more recent ones a few months back and was slightly disappointed that, as NatCh put it, he forgot to develop the characters very well. My all time favorite series by him has to be the Incarnations of Immortality.

On to what I've been reading lately... I just finished a Star Wars novel called Darth Bane: The Path of Destruction. This was a pretty good read and moved along quite quickly. If you're a Star Wars fan, like I am, this helps shell out the Sith philosophy quite a bit and what drives those characters. It's dated well prior to the movies, around the Sith War time-frame. I enjoyed it quite a bit!

I've read a few other books since posting here last, quick summary...
Nephilim: The Fallen Ones by Walter Keith York - Started out nice, then got way out of whack. This book could have been so much more fun, but essentially devolved into interpretive bible codes propaganda.

I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story by Glen Duncan - Again, so much promise here; I mean, how can you go wrong with a title writing an autobiography of the devil from his perspective. I was hoping for a good romp and ended up with a boring, stale narative that kept puting me to sleep. I tried to read it, I really did, but only made it about 1/2 through... sigh...

Next by Michael Crichton - I enjoyed this book as it moved along at a nice pace. It revolves around bioengineering and such, I won't go into too many details. One thing that threw me off was it started with a whole slew of disconnected stories that didn't pull together until the last 1/4 of the book and ended wrapping up way too quickly; kinda leaves you hanging, if you ask me. I'm more of a hard-core far future SciFi nut, so I ended up liking his Prey book much better (can't go wrong with nanos!).

Blind Shrike by Richard Kadrey - Sweet! I really enjoyed this book, what a wild ride! This had pretty much non-stop action and was just plain fun. I'll have to keep an eye out for more books by this author, if this book is any indication. I think it only took a few days to finish, as I couldn't put it down. :

I started to read a few others, but they were just too painful to make it past the first few chapters. grrr... good thing there are so many other choices to go with!

I am currently reading AEthereal by Christopher Wilcox Sr., it's off to a good start. We'll go from there!

[alophind]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I'm now reading the first book of the Second Series (about the Live Ships). I'm about 1/3 through it and thorougly enjoying it. I find it fully engrossing.

Don

reading it as eBook or real book ? :-D

[BenG]

Just finished The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. I regret waiting so long to read this, but the plot descriptions I read didn't interest me. It takes place in 1985 in an alternate England where the Crimean War is still going on, and Wales is a socialist republic. Part fantasy, part suspense, and part absurdity is the best description. Highly recommended.
I loved the Rocky Horror style audience participation at a performance of Richard III and the Baconians who go door to door like Jehovah's Witnesses trying to convince people that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays.

[cherdman]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I'm trying to decide whether to buy my next Pratchett book in Mobipocket or LIT format. I tend toward the latter, so I can be sure of being able to access the content wherever I want, but footnotes are a major feature of Pratchett's work, so I want a format that handles them well. My iLiad, naturally, will only read Mobipocket (of the available DRM nonsense formats). I can convert a LIT book, but I've heard the footnotes lose something in the translation. Can anyone comment on this?

Hm...well, you might be able to download a demo of the Mobipocket version to see. I've had little luck retaining table of contents and footnotes when converting LIT files...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't...

[astra]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I'm now reading the first book of the Second Series (about the Live Ships). I'm about 1/3 through it and thorougly enjoying it. I find it fully engrossing.

Don

I have read only the first 2 trilogies and found them to be amongst the best fantasy I have read. Maybe I will read third and fourth trilogies after HP series (in 1 year time?).

[morituri]

Reading Pattern Recognition by William Gibson right now, as a warm up for his new novel Spook Country.

[nekokami]

I just finished Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. I liked it quite a bit more than The Color of Magic (which I still haven't finished). Looking forward to the next one.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by alophind

reading it as eBook or real book ? :-D

Do we know you?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I'm trying to decide whether to buy my next Pratchett book in Mobipocket or LIT format. I tend toward the latter, so I can be sure of being able to access the content wherever I want, but footnotes are a major feature of Pratchett's work, so I want a format that handles them well. My iLiad, naturally, will only read Mobipocket (of the available DRM nonsense formats). I can convert a LIT book, but I've heard the footnotes lose something in the translation. Can anyone comment on this?

The best solution is to try it. I don't see why the footnotes would get lost. But then, I've never converted LIT with footnotes. But if it does lose them, Want some help putting them back in?

[JSWolf]

I am currently reading the Star Trek book I posted here Music of the Spheres. I'm reading the Sony LRF version of course. It's a direct sequel to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. And so far I am enjoying it. And it is NOT fan-fictio. It's written by a true professional author who has written some other quite good Star Trek novels.

Sony LRF: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11822

MobiPocket PRC: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12979

[nekokami]

I read Pratchett's Mort last night. I liked it, about as much as I liked Equal Rites, I guess, but not nearly as much as I liked A Hatful of Sky.

In my copy, all the footnotes were at the end, for some reason. Inconvenient, that.

[wayspooled]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I read Pratchett's Mort last night. I liked it, about as much as I liked Equal Rites, I guess, but not nearly as much as I liked A Hatful of Sky.

In my copy, all the footnotes were at the end, for some reason. Inconvenient, that.

Yeah, A Hat Full of Sky is one of my favs Wasn't that great? hehehe. Makes me laugh to think of it. It's the 2nd of a group that starts with The Wee Free Men I think and the one after it is Wintersmith.

Let me save you some money, Eric is not one of the best ones either.

Best ones out on ebook (at fictionwise anyway) not in order..
Guards Guards
Reaper Man
Moving Pictures
Witches Abroad
Wee Free Men
A Hat Full of Sky
Maskerade
Men At Arms
Small Gods
Lords and Ladies
Feet of Clay
Thud
Wintersmith
Interesting Times

Best ones I don't see available yet
Wyrd Sisters
Pyramids
The Fifth Elephant
Carpe Jugulum
Last Continent
Jingo
The Truth
Hogfather
Good Omens (cowritten with Neil Gaiman)
Going Postal

ehhhh ones (which doesn't mean there aren't hilarious parts)
Sourcery
Equal Rites
Color of Magic
Light Fantastic
Eric
Mort
Soul Music

Just opinion of course but you seem to be blase abou the same ones I am

"They can tak' oour lives but they cannae tak' oour troousers!" -Nac Mac Feegle

[nekokami]

Yeah, I'm reading Sourcery now and wondering when it's going to get to the good part. Maybe I'll just skip ahead to the next one.