Books: What are you currently reading?

[MI_Tiger]

Originally Posted by Hendal

Dean R. Koontz - Frankenstein --- so far this is just awesome, I will need the 2nd 2 of the serious I can tell.

I just finished the first of the LOTR, always a great read, it was fun to compare it to the movies.

I'm so glad you mentioned the Frankenstein novles. I read the first 2 several years ago, but there was a 4-year delay before the 3rd so I was left hanging. I need to go re-read these now that the series is continuing.

[colonel_homestar]

Currently I'm reading,
1. The Bible
2. Dragons of Summer Flame
3. Lord of th Rings: The Fellowship
4. World War: In the Balance

[Elstree]

Originally Posted by ollie

My potted reviews of some of Stephenson's works...

I enjoyed Snow Crash, but it wasn't the masterpiece I was led to believe from all the hype. I'd give it a B+. It's bubblegum science fiction--all style and very little substance--and unfortunately, like bubblegum, it loses its flavor after awhile. It starts with one of the most exciting and cinematic openings I've read but that scene sets a high bar for the rest of the novel that just isn't met.

To me Snow Crash read more like a screenplay in novel form, with scenes of cinematic action strung together with otherwise unmemorable plot. Some of the elements (cybernetic pit-bulls, depleted uranium railguns, an Aleut assassin with a revenge complex and an atom bomb) were just so over-the-top that they seemed almost out-of-genre, straying out of science fiction and into the realm of comic books; more "Tank Girl" than "Neuromancer".

I've also read The Big U by Stephenson (tip: don't) and I felt like it gave me some insight into his writing. I get the impression that he first imagines scenes that he thinks will have a high cool factor (LARPers in the steam tunnels under campus fighting escaped giant radioactive lab rats, for example) and then finds a way to work them into the story. Maybe this is just a characteristic of his early work, but it's discouraged me from reading anything further by him.

[Jormi_Boced]

I am reading Columbine right now.

[Drumline3469]

Just finished "Why Revival Tarries" by Leonard Ravenhill. One of the more inspiring books I've read that spurred me on to pray more. Finishing up round 2 of the New Testament this semester and also starting the Chronicles of Narnia series for fun. It's been a while since I read them last.

[Dad_Scaper]

Picked up Kevin Baker's Dreamland at the library today & the first few pages look good.

I just finished The Angel's Game, a follow up to Shadow of the Wind which I wrote about a page or two ago. It was a good companion novel, not as strong but I really enjoyed it.

[NilfheimPwns]

Originally Posted by colonel_homestar

Currently I'm reading,
1. The Bible
2. Dragons of Summer Flame
3. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
4. World War: In the Balance

Me too.

[Nivik23]

Toll The Hounds

Great series, but really hard to remember who did what with so many characters. Definately a series you'll want to read without many time lapses in-between book.

NiV23

[Fen_Hydra]

Hunting Eichmann. It's a book about how the Mossad tracked down Eichmann after the war (Compeletely real account). A little advanced (I'm 12), but interesting.

[RabSheila]

Finished Deadly Edge and Slayground. Two Parker novels by Richard Stark. Both excellent.

Reading Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall now. Pretty entertaining for what it is, so far. If you like Star Trek, great. If you like Zombies, even better. It’s a win-win.

[kolakoski]

Originally Posted by nyys

Fantastic series, but be ready to join the legions of ticked off fans who have been waiting for book five for 5 years.

Read it anyways. It is great.

Originally Posted by Ryougabot

Star Trek: Sorrows of the Empire

Good little niche book, if your niche happens to be the mirror universe.

Is this a one-off mirror universe book?

Originally Posted by Jdet

I've just started Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe's Triumph". A fantastic read about Wellington's army in India!

This is only one of an entire series of good books about Sharpe that was made into a series for TV.

A couple of good books that you may never have heard of:

The Worm Ouroboros by Eric Rucker Eddison. Epic fantasy with a very neat twist at the end.

The Disappearance by Philip Wylie. Facinating concept that needs to be updated and made into a movie. I think Wylie also wrote a book about a champion gladiator who gets frozen, and gets thawed out in the present day.

[Ryougabot]

Originally Posted by kolakoski

Is this a one-off mirror universe book?

This is a one-off book. It takes spans Mirror Mirror through ST6, but is stands alone as far as a read.