Books: What are you currently reading?

[Elstree]

My recommendations:

Slaughtermatic by Steve Aylett. This is an over-the-top cartoonish, satirical caricature of the cyberpunk genre, with a classic noir punchiness. The writing itself is absolutely amazing. Every sentence is like a carefully crafted one-line joke. (An example: "Costello had been given six months for crucifying a Valley girl, and everyone was boasting if they'd been given that much time, they could have crucified fifty." Another: "The bewildering tangle of alliances was decipherable only by the frequency and angle at which wounds were inflicted.") There are only two books that, upon finishing, I've immediately turned back to the first page and started all over again. This is one of them. The writing is just that good.


The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel. The premise of this book is simple: CETI detects a signal, and while the rest of the world is arguing about how to respond the Jesuits quietly send their own mission. The story alternates between flashback and present day, as the Church back on earth tries to piece together exactly what happened and how it went wrong. In part, it's a commentary on Europe's first contact with the New World, but more broadly it's a story of how the best intentions of well-meaning people can go awry. The author is an anthropologist by training, and that background really shines in this tale of culture contact. There's no finger-pointing or moralistic blame-laying here; just an attempt to show how two peoples' failure to understand each other can make things all fall apart.

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

The Halo Graphic Novel. I didn't like the first story, I couldn't tell what was going on half the time because the Flood creatures had random mouths, limbs, etc. Sometimes they filled up most of the panel.

The second comic was cool, it was a Spartan armor test. I'm going to read the two other stories tomorrow.

Halo: The Fall of Reach.

[SuperflyTNT]

Originally Posted by MrQuatsch

I have the Bear and the Dragon. It's decent, but I suggest waiting for a little while before reading it and read Rainbow Six before. The reason to wait is that while it is a good read, it just felt like I had already read something similar. The same thing for The Lost Symbol. It is a good read, but it just made me feel that it was going over the same ground with different names for the characters. That is just what I think and I've read both books twice just to make sure I wasn't missing something.

This is arguably his worst book, IMO. He uses the same phrases repeatedly, almost as if he has some form of "literary Tourette's" stutter. The phrase "That's Real Money" must've been in there 10 times...

I had forgotten to mention this:

"World War Z" by the acclaimed director Mel Brooks' son, Max. GREAT zombie book.

[ZBeeblebrox]

I just finished High Lord’s Fury (Codex Alera, Book 6) and all I have to say is….

“Bloody Crows! That was awesome!”

For those of you who are fans of Butcher’s fantasy series, this was his best yet. The battle scenes and the drama were as intense as it gets.
Butcher is great! Read this series, read this book.


-- ZB, excited for the new Dresden novel to release.

[Kinseth]

just picked up Game of Thrones.

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

Finished the Halo Graphic Novel. Meh, I wouldn't recommend it.

[Jormi_Boced]

Originally Posted by Kinseth

just picked up Game of Thrones.

Enjoy!

[Shottglazz]

Gears of War: Aspho Fields - good background to the whole GoW world...

[Land-based AE]

I'm reading Anne Rivers Siddons' The House Next Door. So far it's been pretty good. It's done a good job of getting through the slow setup stuff while getting you to believe that something big is coming.

[ZBeeblebrox]

I read Ruins of Gorlan last night. I just want to thank others who recommended this series, because I enjoyed the first book. It was a refreshing quick read, after reading three fairly large novels in a row.

I will begin the first Mistborn book tonight, which I am looking forward to because of others on this site who has also recommended this series.

[Aldin]

Originally Posted by ZBeeblebrox

I will begin the first Mistborn book tonight, which I am looking forward to because of others on this site who has also recommended this series.

Enjoy, Zaphod!

~Aldin, who hasn't had a pangalactic gargleblaster in quite some time

[ZBeeblebrox]

Originally Posted by Aldin

Enjoy, Zaphod!

~Aldin, who hasn't had a pangalactic gargleblaster in quite some time