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Anybody have a suggestion of a book(s) about exploration of space, particularly exploration of the unknown or an unknown object. Or any books that are very Mass Effect-esque?

Unrelated: Just finished the 4th and final book of the Heechee Saga (Annals of the Heechee). The saga was great but the 4th book was nothing to write home about unfortunately.

I think my next hard copy book shall be The Mote in God's Eye


The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven

Still working through It on the Kindle
 
Makler...

A year or so ago I finished Morgan's Broken Angels and Woken Furies, which are the last two books of the Takashi Kovacs trilogy. They deal with a few mysteries surrounding space artifacts and forgotten interstellar cultures, and these mysteries frame the larger explorations of the worlds and cultures the author has created. The whole trilogy is pretty good hardcore, action scifi. Morgan clearly enjoys writing characters within military/corporate hierarchies and the dynamics and attitudes that come out of that. That may be a turn-off, I was a little tired of it after the last book.

(By the way, Morgan's "sleeve" technology is really well handled, it allows for very interesting twists on story telling conventions. It's one of my favorite technologies in any scifi, it's very slick yet doesn't get bogged down in detail.)

Another fun but much goofier exploration of a world and artifact is John Varley's Titan. It's just straight-up weird, the creatures and the world itself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Titan is a good book. It's part of the reason scifi and fantasy fans get stigmatized, it can be embarrassing in places. But it's fun, dammit. So what if it's trashy and *very* dated? In its defense, the protagonist isn't half bad, it's just hard to be taken seriously in the world Varley creates.

Titan especially is easy to get through, it goes fast. Broken Angels and Woken Furies have some bloat to them, but Morgan's technologies and politics make the ride interesting. If you read one of them, hope you'll discuss them here!
 
Started A Clash of Kings this week. I'm only about 50 pages in, but it's already great. I've already bought the next two as well, but I think I might continue to read a different book in between these novels.
 
[quote name='Maklershed']Anybody have a suggestion of a book(s) about exploration of space, particularly exploration of the unknown or an unknown object. Or any books that are very Mass Effect-esque?[/QUOTE]

I particularly enjoyed Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama. It fits very well into your criteria.

I'd also recommend Spin. While it's not about exploring space or unknown objects, it is about exploring a bizarre change to the planet, which I found to be unique.

And, one of my favorite books, The Sparrow, which follows the story of the first group to travel to the first planet found to have life, though I would warn that the story is told from an anthropological stance. It gets into some very deep and dark themes, particularly with the exploration of faith, though it is not a religious book.
 
[quote name='Maklershed']Anybody have a suggestion of a book(s) about exploration of space, particularly exploration of the unknown or an unknown object. Or any books that are very Mass Effect-esque?

Unrelated: Just finished the 4th and final book of the Heechee Saga (Annals of the Heechee). The saga was great but the 4th book was nothing to write home about unfortunately.

I think my next hard copy book shall be The Mote in God's Eye


The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven

Still working through It on the Kindle[/QUOTE]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons has a pretty cool universe. Travel is more by teleports than ships though.
 
currently maybe 470 or so pages into The complete hammer's slammers Vol 3.

Gods and generals ended up taking me more than a month to finish wasn't reading a whole lot.

[quote name='Maklershed']Anybody have a suggestion of a book(s) about exploration of space, particularly exploration of the unknown or an unknown object. Or any books that are very Mass Effect-esque?[/QUOTE]

You might like Stephen Baxter's nasa trilogy, Voyage titan and moonseed.

Or maybe the Xeelee sequence for farther future stuff could perhaps count for the unknown.

Mass Effect-esque makes me think space opera

Pandora's Star by perter F hamilton
I will second, The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
 
[quote name='evantrees']currently maybe 470 or so pages into The complete hammer's slammers Vol 3.

Gods and generals ended up taking me more than a month to finish wasn't reading a whole lot.



You might like Stephen Baxter's nasa trilogy, Voyage titan and moonseed.

Or maybe the Xeelee sequence for farther future stuff could perhaps count for the unknown.

Mass Effect-esque makes me think space opera

Pandora's Star by perter F hamilton
I will second, The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons[/QUOTE]

Clarke's Rendvous with Rama is a good "explore a alient object" type book.
Jack L Chalker's Well World series as well. Most of those are pretty dated.

Larry Niven's Ringworld series fits as well.

I'm currently reading:


It's okay. got it from the Borders closeout sale. Sort of a fanciful detective novel. Not your standard noir tale. But it doesn't quite go far enough afield for my taste.

(Especially when the last thing I read was the vastly weird Perdido Street Station)
 
[quote name='eldergamer'](Especially when the last thing I read was the vastly weird Perdido Street Station)[/QUOTE]
Good weird, though, right? I liked both Perdido and The Scar.

I've moved on to the second book in Abercrombie's First Law series. I really liked the characters in the first, but I'm getting the feeling that I'm losing touch with these books. One thing I don't like is that the fight scenes seem like they get the bulk of his attention...really wish he'd invest some of that energy into the surroundings, world mythology, or non-fisticuff character interaction.

It just seems like a waste of some really interesting characters (who are now lifeless or being largely ignored in the second book). I'm not sure where this series is going, but I'm hoping it picks up. If anyone's made it through all 3, any clues are appreciated. I'll ditch this thing if I have to, I'm crazy enough to do it.
 
[quote name='dothog']Good weird, though, right? I liked both Perdido and The Scar.

I've moved on to the second book in Abercrombie's First Law series. I really liked the characters in the first, but I'm getting the feeling that I'm losing touch with these books. One thing I don't like is that the fight scenes seem like they get the bulk of his attention...really wish he'd invest some of that energy into the surroundings, world mythology, or non-fisticuff character interaction.

It just seems like a waste of some really interesting characters (who are now lifeless or being largely ignored in the second book). I'm not sure where this series is going, but I'm hoping it picks up. If anyone's made it through all 3, any clues are appreciated. I'll ditch this thing if I have to, I'm crazy enough to do it.[/QUOTE]

I just finished the second about a month ago. I had a maybe 4-6 month break between the first and the second book so I had forgotten most things.
The second was pretty good although the ending was the definition of anti-climatic.

I'll pick up the third from the library eventually, but I'm not interested in it if it's going to be more of a court-politics vs battle agaisnt the eaters.
 
I couldn't get into First Law. Bought all three from an Amazon bundle deal, but read 2/3 of the first one and just kinda lost interest.

These post-Martin fantasy books that try to be for "adults" and sorta fall flat. I really got tired of the whole genre way back when Terry Brooks kept his Shanarra series going when he should have stopped it at Talismans. Martin got me into his books to an almost obsessive level, but all the other authors failed to get me back into the genre.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']I couldn't get into First Law. Bought all three from an Amazon bundle deal, but read 2/3 of the first one and just kinda lost interest.

These post-Martin fantasy books that try to be for "adults" and sorta fall flat.[/QUOTE]

I don't read em all, so I don't know about fantasy in general. I think First Law's first book had promise, I consider it an accomplishment that the author got me interested in his menagerie of selfish assholes, a few of which were identifiable in spite of being torturers or teenage nobles.

One I've read whose reputation puzzles me is the Name of the Wind books. Not that it's bad, but why all the fuss? Even GRRM went out of his way to praise the last one. I can't think of a protagonist I care less for than Kvothe.
 
[quote name='gravel']Started A Clash of Kings this week. I'm only about 50 pages in, but it's already great. I've already bought the next two as well, but I think I might continue to read a different book in between these novels.[/QUOTE]

I'm halfway through a Clash of Kings, which I am enjoying as well. :bouncy:
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']I couldn't get into First Law. Bought all three from an Amazon bundle deal, but read 2/3 of the first one and just kinda lost interest.

These post-Martin fantasy books that try to be for "adults" and sorta fall flat. I really got tired of the whole genre way back when Terry Brooks kept his Shanarra series going when he should have stopped it at Talismans. Martin got me into his books to an almost obsessive level, but all the other authors failed to get me back into the genre.[/QUOTE]

I finished reading the First Law a few weeks ago and totally agree with your sentiment. The book wasn't bad per se but it certainly wasn't as good as most reviews would have you believe. The characters just didn't hold my interest and the story was almost non-existent. Same thing holds true about The Black Company by Cook.
 
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[quote name='dothog']I don't read em all, so I don't know about fantasy in general. I think First Law's first book had promise, I consider it an accomplishment that the author got me interested in his menagerie of selfish assholes, a few of which were identifiable in spite of being torturers or teenage nobles.

One I've read whose reputation puzzles me is the Name of the Wind books. Not that it's bad, but why all the fuss? Even GRRM went out of his way to praise the last one. I can't think of a protagonist I care less for than Kvothe.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I do like First Law's characters. It's like there were great characters but a mediocre "world" and "events" for them to exist in. I heard his standalone book that followed was far more interesting.

Read some of the first NotW book. I think I FINALLY got to the interesting part where he actually starts to tell his story. That first chunk was tedious up until then. Pretty sure I'm going to be of the same mind as you though, because so far the main character doesn't interest me either. I found myself more interested in tertiary characters in Martin's books. Like fuckin' Hot Pie! That kid was the shit.
 
Finished Speaker for the Dead and on to the third book in the series.

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Speaker wasn't nearly as good as Ender's Game, but it was still compelling enough to keep me reading the series.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Speaker wasn't nearly as good as Ender's Game, but it was still compelling enough to keep me reading the series.[/QUOTE]

That's odd, the general reaction (I think) is that the second actually surpasses the first. YMMV of course.
 
From reading reading reviews, the reaction on that is very split.

They're very different books. Ender's Game is a much lighter and more entertaining read. Reasonably action packed etc. The second one is much slower and deals a lot more with philosophical/religious/cultural issues.

Just a matter of what you're interested in/like to read that will determine which you like more I suppose.
 
I think it's tough to compare the Ender's Books. The first and second books could not be any more dissimilar. I loved Ender's Game and dove right into the second novel. I was so shocked by the change in tone/style that I couldn't finish reading it. I wanted more Ender's Game and the sequel did not deliver. Now, whether it's written better on its own merits is another question.

I started Hyperion the other day. I know it is considered a classic, but didn't know much about it. I am pleasantly surprised. Loving every aspect of it. I am about halfway done and I feel like I don't want it to end. Are the three other books in the Cantos similar?
 
Just finished Heir to the Empire, which is the first book of the Stars Wars Thrawn Trilogy, and the first Star Wars book I've ever read. I was sort of hesitant picking it up, since I had fears it would read like bad fan fiction, but I was pleasantly surprised. The praise this book gets is worth it, and I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy off.

But, I'm going to read The Sacred Band first. It's the final book in the Acacia trilogy, which is a horribly underrated fantasy trilogy few people seem to have heard of. I've been looking forward to the conclusion of what's been a fairly innovative and deeply engrossing series for about a year now.

[quote name='dothog']That's odd, the general reaction (I think) is that the second actually surpasses the first. YMMV of course.[/QUOTE]

Interesting thing is that Orson Scott Card wanted to write Speaker for the Dead first, but decided Ender needed some backstory.

I think which book you prefer depends on whether you like the more sci-fi-ish nature of Ender's Game or the more philosophical nature of Speaker for the Dead. Personally speaking, I enjoyed the latter more, but I think Ender's Game is slightly dated. That said, the rest of the series continued with the more philosophical nature, which I think became a little worn by the fourth book.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']I think it's tough to compare the Ender's Books. The first and second books could not be any more dissimilar. I loved Ender's Game and dove right into the second novel. I was so shocked by the change in tone/style that I couldn't finish reading it. I wanted more Ender's Game and the sequel did not deliver. Now, whether it's written better on its own merits is another question.

I started Hyperion the other day. I know it is considered a classic, but didn't know much about it. I am pleasantly surprised. Loving every aspect of it. I am about halfway done and I feel like I don't want it to end. Are the three other books in the Cantos similar?[/QUOTE]

Yep they just keep expanding on the series. In fact the third one is my favorite. His Ilium and Olympous two book series is pretty damn good too
 
The Drawing of the Three. The second book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Also gonna start reading The Game of Thrones series as well.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']I started Hyperion the other day. I know it is considered a classic, but didn't know much about it. I am pleasantly surprised. Loving every aspect of it. I am about halfway done and I feel like I don't want it to end. Are the three other books in the Cantos similar?[/QUOTE]

Yes. But...I am probably in the minority on this...I loved the first two and hated the second two. They are a continuation, but they just felt different to me, and I didn't like where they ended up going. Maybe I should reread them. I thought the first two were stellar, though.

[quote name='kill3r7']Same thing holds true about The Black Company by Cook.[/QUOTE]

Heh. I'm currently reading Cook's The Tyranny of the Night (which, whenever I'm tired, I misread as The Tranny of the Night). It is one of the more difficult books I've read and I almost gave up on it twice.

The book is detailed, but it's all minutiae, and Cook throws names, religions, nationalities, regions, and everything at you, and then will spend a paragraph describing something that has nothing to do with the story and may or may not ever be brought up again or be important. It borders on incomprehensible. I finally had to stop trying to make sense of every paragraph and just plow through some of them, skimming for the sense of it and not sweating the details.

Plus Cook has a style with short sentences. Which becomes really annoying, as he describes stuff. In sentence fragments. Like a history book being told by some guy at the bar. Who doesn't really explain things well. And sometimes his meaning is ambiguous. So you read it again. And it doesn't help.

I stuck with it because it was a recommended book at my library, and the description said it was about everyday people instead of kings and Chosen Ones, and I do like that aspect. And while I appreciate that he obviously spent a lot of time thinking about the world, the way in which he conveys it I personally find maddening.
 
I'm nearly done with the third and final book in Abercrombie's First Law series. I've powered through them to this point. I get the feeling I know where this is going (nowhere), and whereas some readers see that as super cool and "gritty," to me the cynicism feels like a cop-out.

And I'm exhausted with the way Abercrombie insists on directly indicating character development through exposition and internal asides rather than showing it. He wasn't this bad in the first book.

Overall, a fun series to read, it's pretty easy going from chapter to chapter. A few really fun, original characters. But it isn't satisfying to this point. It may pick up in the last 200 pages, but I get the feeling it won't.
 


Second book in the series. Picks up a few years later with from the first book with no re-capping from the first. So at 70 pages in I still feel a little lost remembering how the first ended.

It's not bad, but the dropped in Russian curses are annoying and I have a hard time belivng a physics professor (even if he is from the Russian underworld) is this tough and weapons handy.
 
FINALLY...I have finished A Feast of Crows by Martin. This is by far my LEAST favorite of the books. It's sluggish, too much backstory for people I don't really care for...it could have been a MUCH shorter story. As with any of his books though, the good parts were really good and what kept me going. I did find myself double checking with the book's wiki page to make sure I understood the story correctly. I found some parts confusing.

I do have Dance of Dragons on my Kindle but I am going to take a break from this story. I went through all 4 books straight.

Started to read The Hunger Game on my train ride in. I can see I'm going to really like this one and breeze right through it.
 
Last good book: All The Devils Are Here by Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean

A very detailed history of the recent financial crash. It can be a bit of a slog because it tries to be very thorough and cover all of the angles, while most books focus on a single sector or company. But this also means it has some interesting facts and observations I've not read in any of the other books covering the same ground.

The emphasis is that there was a LOT of really bad ideas in both government and finance needed in combination to produce damage of this magnitude. Numerous element could have greatly reduced the severity if they'd acted differently or sooner.

Bad books: A series under the title Annihilation that calls itself a trilogy but seems to have at least seven entries. The author is a Saxon Andrew and I really hope that is a pseudonym. So far it's been like a movie of horrible car accidents. Horrifying but you cannot look away.

If the story were reduced to a synopsis for a series aimed at younger readers it might sound promising. But the author has an utter tin ear for dialogue and convenient miracles just come along like buses on a major urban route. You can be sure there will be another in fifteen minutes.

This is the unfortunate down side of self-publishing e-books. Stuff gets through that, you hope, would never see print if there was any significant capital investment required to get the books into stores.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']I think it's tough to compare the Ender's Books. The first and second books could not be any more dissimilar. I loved Ender's Game and dove right into the second novel. I was so shocked by the change in tone/style that I couldn't finish reading it. I wanted more Ender's Game and the sequel did not deliver. Now, whether it's written better on its own merits is another question.

I started Hyperion the other day. I know it is considered a classic, but didn't know much about it. I am pleasantly surprised. Loving every aspect of it. I am about halfway done and I feel like I don't want it to end. Are the three other books in the Cantos similar?[/QUOTE]

You absolutely NEED to read Fall of Hyperion or you're only getting half the story. Think of Hyperion as the journey, and Fall is the actual meat of the story.
 
I am about 60 percent of the way through the ESPN book Those Guy's Have All The Fun. It is pretty slow, but there are a lot of interesting bits. I don't know how much of the rest I will finish because ESPN has sucked for about five years now and been really shitty for the past two or three.
 
I am currently reading Mistborn book 1 of the trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. The next book is The Well of Ascention the third book is Hero of ages.
I've read them before but they are so cool im reading them again I really wish they would make movies out of these epic fantasy books.
 
[quote name='CaseyRyback']I am about 60 percent of the way through the ESPN book Those Guy's Have All The Fun. It is pretty slow, but there are a lot of interesting bits. I don't know how much of the rest I will finish because ESPN has sucked for about five years now and been really shitty for the past two or three.[/QUOTE]

I was very disappointed with the book. The reviews made it sound like a bunch of crazy shit went down. Not really.
 
[quote name='epobirs']Last good book: All The Devils Are Here by Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean

A very detailed history of the recent financial crash.[/QUOTE]

If you read Michael Lewis' "The Big Short," how would you compare the two?

[quote name='RockinTheRedDog']FINALLY...I have finished A Feast of Crows by Martin. This is by far my LEAST favorite of the books.[/QUOTE]

Ack! I'm right around halfway through Storm of Swords after starting the series at the start of the year, and I'm already feeling exhausted through some of the tedium. I can understand why HBO stuck w/ a 10-hour season instead of 12: while it seems like condensing an 1100+ page book into 10 episodes is a fool's errand, fully 300 pages consists of (a) crossing rivers, (b) family lineages going back 17 generations, (c) descriptions of food.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still wayyy digging the series. But I'm a bit worn out on it right now, the same way I can't go and play Fallout: New Vegas (though I'd like to), because I spent the last month playing Skyrim. I need some variety. Yet I also want to finish the 5 books before I incidentally come across spoilers online.

*sigh* first world problems for sure.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']If you read Michael Lewis' "The Big Short," how would you compare the two?



Ack! I'm right around halfway through Storm of Swords after starting the series at the start of the year, and I'm already feeling exhausted through some of the tedium. I can understand why HBO stuck w/ a 10-hour season instead of 12: while it seems like condensing an 1100+ page book into 10 episodes is a fool's errand, fully 300 pages consists of (a) crossing rivers, (b) family lineages going back 17 generations, (c) descriptions of food.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still wayyy digging the series. But I'm a bit worn out on it right now, the same way I can't go and play Fallout: New Vegas (though I'd like to), because I spent the last month playing Skyrim. I need some variety. Yet I also want to finish the 5 books before I incidentally come across spoilers online.

*sigh* first world problems for sure.[/QUOTE]

Feast for Crows and Dance of Dragons are a drag.
 
Well, that stinks. A friend told me that there's a scene in Storm of Swords where everything kinda goes to shit afterward. I'm pretty sure I just read that chapter.
 
What I mean is that they are still very well written and enjoyable. But you don't get the sense that the plot is moving forward like you do in the first three books. I have a feeling that Martin is losing control of the narrative.
 
Yeah, the main plot stalls in books 4 and 5 as a lot of it (especially book 4) is focused on new characters and secondary characters.

They're both still very good reads, just not as exciting as the first 3 books.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']If you read Michael Lewis' "The Big Short," how would you compare the two?


They're very different books. The Big Short is concerned with a smaller subset of the events and people leading up to the Crash. Actually, it is referenced in 'All The Devils Are Here' as the authors believe Lewis was mislead on a certain issue.

All The Devils Are Here is a more comprehensive examination of the myriad contributing factors but less of a personality profile. There are trade-offs in what you can do at different scales.
 
[quote name='munch']What I mean is that they are still very well written and enjoyable. But you don't get the sense that the plot is moving forward like you do in the first three books. I have a feeling that Martin is losing control of the narrative.[/QUOTE]

The plot's moving forward, just on parallel tracks from the "main" plot that occured in the previous 3 books.
 
Thanks for the info, epobirs. I'll have to check that book out once I cease my brief dalliance into fiction.

[quote name='dmaul1114']Yeah, the main plot stalls in books 4 and 5 as a lot of it (especially book 4) is focused on new characters and secondary characters.

They're both still very good reads, just not as exciting as the first 3 books.[/QUOTE]

In hindsight, one of the best books in the Dark Tower series was #4, Wizard and Glass. And the bulk of that book, if memory serves, was spent discussing Roland's character development from well before the start of the events in book 1. It was thin on overall plot development, and thick on character development.

I may be okay with that, then. We'll see.

I'm still struggling to figure out why I enjoy this series (Song of Ice and Fire) so much.

I just read the chapter where Robb at Catelyn Stark are betrayed by Walder Frey. As a chapter, it exhibits some of the frustration of the series - that is, not a single fucking positive thing has happened to the Starks at all in the books. It's been 2500 pages (thus far) of nothing but suffering and death, with not the slightest bit of retaliation.

Don't get me wrong, I'm trying to avoid whinging as if to say "the good guys aren't winning!" - I know better than that. But I'm trying to discover why I enjoy this series when the narrative thus far provides no hope whatsoever. There should be some modicum of back-and-forth between the Starks and Lannisters - but it seems to consistently be the Starks on the losing end, having no success at all.

The only rationale I can think of is that the damned TV show misleadingly framed the series in a way to suggest Starks = protagonists, Lannisters = antagonists. When in reality (this is a hunch I've had for a while), the series doesn't have "main characters" the way traditional novels do. No clear "good guys" or "bad guys" - the main character in this book is Westeros, and therefore any assumption that this family or that family are the ones who we should cheer for is imposed on the books by the readers.

But seriously, the book is a perpetual series of disappointments. Nearly every character I like has died, and nearly every character I dislike has not - the closest is Jamie Lannister's maiming in book 3.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Thanks for the info, epobirs. I'll have to check that book out once I cease my brief dalliance into fiction.



In hindsight, one of the best books in the Dark Tower series was #4, Wizard and Glass. And the bulk of that book, if memory serves, was spent discussing Roland's character development from well before the start of the events in book 1. It was thin on overall plot development, and thick on character development.

I may be okay with that, then. We'll see.

I'm still struggling to figure out why I enjoy this series (Song of Ice and Fire) so much.

I just read the chapter where Robb at Catelyn Stark are betrayed by Walder Frey. As a chapter, it exhibits some of the frustration of the series - that is, not a single fucking positive thing has happened to the Starks at all in the books. It's been 2500 pages (thus far) of nothing but suffering and death, with not the slightest bit of retaliation.

Don't get me wrong, I'm trying to avoid whinging as if to say "the good guys aren't winning!" - I know better than that. But I'm trying to discover why I enjoy this series when the narrative thus far provides no hope whatsoever. There should be some modicum of back-and-forth between the Starks and Lannisters - but it seems to consistently be the Starks on the losing end, having no success at all.

The only rationale I can think of is that the damned TV show misleadingly framed the series in a way to suggest Starks = protagonists, Lannisters = antagonists. When in reality (this is a hunch I've had for a while), the series doesn't have "main characters" the way traditional novels do. No clear "good guys" or "bad guys" - the main character in this book is Westeros, and therefore any assumption that this family or that family are the ones who we should cheer for is imposed on the books by the readers.

But seriously, the book is a perpetual series of disappointments. Nearly every character I like has died, and nearly every character I dislike has not - the closest is Jamie Lannister's maiming in book 3.
[/QUOTE]

I think you're right about who the main character is. The blurring of the lines between who is 'good and who is 'bad' is what I find attractive about the series. I think the overall point is that all that is constant is the Iron Throne. Some times honorable people get it; some times they don't.

Then there are the people like Tyrion that you can't help but like. And his best friend is Jaime.

On character development: That would be great if he did that in books 4 & 5. I actually prefer the fourth of the 5th because I like the Iron Islands stuff. You can easily see how they can take both of those books and make it into one season of the show.

That brings up another point: I think the show might end up being better than the book because the fat is cut off. That might not happen until they get to seasons 4 & 5, though I think there is still some fat amongst all the crazy shit that happens in the second and third books.
 
Just finished The Hunger Games. I really enjoyed this book but found the ending to be very unfulfilling. I was expecting more I guess.

Now i'm torn...should I continue with this trilogy or go back to The Song of Ice & Fire series and read Dance of Dragons? Thoughts?
 
Tune In Tokyo - Tim Anderson

Saw that it was free on the kindle and gave it a chance. Great book about a Gay man from North Carolina that moves to Tokyo for a year.
Perfect read for me since I plan on going back there by the end of the year.
 
[quote name='RockinTheRedDog']Just finished The Hunger Games. I really enjoyed this book but found the ending to be very unfulfilling. I was expecting more I guess.

Now i'm torn...should I continue with this trilogy or go back to The Song of Ice & Fire series and read Dance of Dragons? Thoughts?[/QUOTE]

Definitely read through the rest of the Hunger Games trilogy. Especially because the second book was my favorite!
 
[quote name='munch']I was very disappointed with the book. The reviews made it sound like a bunch of crazy shit went down. Not really.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I thought they did a significant disservice with the way they sold the book. It was an interesting tale of the rise of a company, but they sold it on the seedy details and conflict and it really didn't have much of that. It also spent too much time on the building of the company rather than the on air talent.

It certainly doesn't help that the company itself does not come out looking well in the book. Dick Ebersol is right when he talks about their production values. David Hill is right when he talks about how they rape the cable customers and impose ridiculous carry charges. And the talent that shit on the culture they promoted so heavily as being great were right.


I started listening to Destiny of the Republic. It covers the assassination of President Garfield. So far it has been completely engaging. You never really hear much about him because of how short his presidency was, but he truly was an amazing man.
 
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