What are you currently reading?

[ducon]

I’m currently reading all the issues of the Doom wadazine, the complete Earthsea book by U.K. Le Guin (translated in French), the Elric cycle (translated) by M. Moorcock, the 16 issues of the America French magazine (sometimes, an article is in English) and a thesis by Marc Parayre about La disparition (A void in English) by Georges Perec.

Edited August 31, 2021 by ducon

[Charlie Love]

Currently going between How to Be a GURPS GM, The Penguin History of the World, and Gotrek and Felix. 

[hybridial]

The adaptation of Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within

[Rytrik]

For learning/business oriented reading - 4 Hour Workweek.
For pleasure reading - Pride and Prejudice.

[out_of_service]

Currently reading Trapped! the Story of Floyd Collins

 

 

[continuum.mid]

Foundation by Isaac Asimov. It's interesting in a lot more ways than I expected, I highly recommend it!

[ducon]

I read Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea (in French), the six books in a single big book.

It’s the story of a magician, from birth to death in a changing world on a planet with a giant sea and an archipelago of many, many islands. There is magic, different kinds of magic and powerful dragons.

He saved the world thrice, he lost his power and married. Then, he became a secondary character and let his place for women. Note that he is black.

Read it.

 

I’m now reading Voices from Chernobyl (in French) written by Svetlana Alexievich.

[Sokoro]

Antarctic Atlas by Peter Fretwell , a book with lots of maps (around 200pages) about various aspects of the continent and surrounding isles. Not really hard reading, but interesting information.

[Ranger46]

I just started Saul Bellow's Humboldt's Gift.

[Silhouette 03]

The Shining, by Stephen King- This is actually my first foray into his works, and I'm very much impressed. The way King builds his characters and gives them depth is remarkable, and I especially like his habit of switching perspectives. The thing I like most is that one of the most important themes of the novel is rooted in reality, and co-exists with the supernatural elements without clashing with each other or making either theme feel out of place with the other. What my probably overlong analysis is saying is that I love it so far.

[Kyka]

On 7/19/2021 at 2:07 PM, roadworx said:

the doomworld forums

 

 

 

books are for nerds

 

Yeah.

 

Definitely no nerds on the Doomworld Forums. Definitely no one here who could spend hours talking about visiplane overflows, or how John Romero used arrays to count sectors in the Doom engine code. Nah, all of those geeky nerds are off reading books ;)

 

On Topic. A selection from the last couple of years:

 

The prettiest horse in the glue factory - Corey White

Accelerando - Charles Stross

Crazy Horse and Custer - Stephen A Ambrose

Goering (a biography.) - Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel

 

Currently: The Lord of the Rings for the 4th time.

 

 

[Omniarch]

I'm currently reading a very interesting fantasy novel called The Goblin Emperor. The most notable thing about this story is its careful integration of complex etiquette into every interpersonal interaction, that and its examination of the impact of heirarchy on human relationships. On top of that, it is simply very well-written, plotted and paced in a technical sense, with nary an inconsistency in sight. The world-building is good as well, atypical for the genre in many subtle ways. Overall, a fantastic read, engaging both intellectually and emotionally.

[famicommander]

Been on a Dune rampage for over a year.

 

Read the whole original series by Frank Herbert:

Dune

Dune Messiah

Children of Dune

God Emperor of Dune

Heretics of Dune

Chapterhouse: Dune

The Road to Dune (short story published in the anthology "Eye")

 

I have since moved onto the expanded universe written by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. It's a massive step down in quality from Frank's writing, there's no debate about that. If Frank's stuff is A or A+ work on average, Brian and Kevin's stuff is a C- at the very peak of their abilities. The Frank Herbert Dune series is great literature, period. It doesn't need any qualifications (ie, it's not "great for the genre" or "great for the time" or "great for fans"; it's simply great). The expanded universe is moderately decent, generic mainstream science fiction. It engages you on the level of Star Wars or Terminator (not saying it's nearly as good as those two properties at their best, but it's the same type of storytelling), not the higher level thinking of writers like Frank Herbert, Dick, Clarke, Heinlen, Asimov, etc.

 

But anyway, I'm reading Hunters of Dune. It's okayish and not very satisfying as a conclusion to the events from Heretics and Chapterhouse but I don't absolutely hate it.

[Arrowhead]

3 hours ago, Ranger46 said:

I just started Saul Bellow's Humboldt's Gift.

Great book - I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Don't wanna spoil anything for you, lol

 

I have a first edition somewhere...

[Bubbabooie]

I've been reading Shogun by James Clavell. It's historical fiction about a skilled English navigator landing ship in Japan in 1600 and learning Japanese customs, first for survival, but then for profit and power. It's quite tense and there's a lot of political intrigue and plotting... the characters are shown to be skilled and intelligent. Last thing I read was People Skills by Robert Bolton which was practical hugely useful.

[cracky-bracky]

This doomworld thread.

[Kyka]

17 hours ago, famicommander said:

Been on a Dune rampage for over a year.

 

Read the whole original series by Frank Herbert:

Dune

Dune Messiah

Children of Dune

God Emperor of Dune

Heretics of Dune

Chapterhouse: Dune

The Road to Dune (short story published in the anthology "Eye")

 

I have since moved onto the expanded universe written by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. It's a massive step down in quality from Frank's writing, there's no debate about that. If Frank's stuff is A or A+ work on average, Brian and Kevin's stuff is a C- at the very peak of their abilities. The Frank Herbert Dune series is great literature, period. It doesn't need any qualifications (ie, it's not "great for the genre" or "great for the time" or "great for fans"; it's simply great). The expanded universe is moderately decent, generic mainstream science fiction. It engages you on the level of Star Wars or Terminator (not saying it's nearly as good as those two properties at their best, but it's the same type of storytelling), not the higher level thinking of writers like Frank Herbert, Dick, Clarke, Heinlen, Asimov, etc.

 

But anyway, I'm reading Hunters of Dune. It's okayish and not very satisfying as a conclusion to the events from Heretics and Chapterhouse but I don't absolutely hate it.

 

Totally agree. The original Dune was art. It was literature in every sense. The new Dune books are what I call "Professional Fan Fiction." Sci-fi pulp fiction that ticks all the appropriate technical boxes, but as you say, has none of the higher thinking or creativity of the originals.

[KillPixel]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

[Rudolph]

Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao. 

 

It is alright so far, although the audiobook can be a bit hard to follow if you are not familiar with the Chinese pronunciations. I have found out about Xiran Jay Zhao from their YouTube channel where they analyze pop culture from a Chinese perspective, although recently they have been talking about Emperor Wu Zetian's life in part to promote their novel, which is very loosely based off her.

[hybridial]

The first of the Moreau Quartet by S Andrew Swann.

 

Basically genepunk noir thrillers with furries, pretty much. I have enjoyed the first one quite a bit, I got the books in Edinburgh at the Transreal Fiction shop, like it was exactly the kind of weird niche written-in-the-80s-or-90s schlock that I absolutely love and hoped to find at a specialist shop like that. 

[ReX]

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

 

This is a must-read for all fans of human history and sociology. The author (Yuval Noah Harari) introduces/explores many ideas about what caused humankind to spread from the cradle in Africa to virtually every part of the Earth. And he does it in an easy-to-read manner.

[Kyka]

9 hours ago, ReX said:

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

 

This is a must-read for all fans of human history and sociology. The author (Yuval Noah Harari) introduces/explores many ideas about what caused humankind to spread from the cradle in Africa to virtually every part of the Earth. And he does it in an easy-to-read manner.

 

If I had a dollar for everyone who has recommended this book to me, I would have, well, probably 5 dollars. But 5 recommendations from random friends and acquaintances is massive, given how rarely a given book will just spring up into conversations. Cheers.

[Chopkinsca]

All you intellectuals and your big books!

 

I'm rereading John Grisham's The Firm. It must have been over 5 years since I read it and I forget most of it. It is quite the thriller, even on a second reading.

[ReX]

This book spans millennia, which would appear a daunting read, on the face of it. However, Harari writes about history so fluidly that you can easily read a dozen pages without realizing you've done so.

 

His other book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is also another good book. In the middle chapters it gets somewhat heavy in the philosophical and technological department. But overall, it's an eye-opener.

[ReX]

3 minutes ago, Chopkinsca said:

All you intellectuals and your big books!

Sapiens is only 416 pages [:wink:]

4 minutes ago, Chopkinsca said:

John Grisham's The Firm

Yes, excellent and entertaining book. Like you, I, too, forget the specifics of books I've read or movies I've watched. So, years later, I can experience them in almost the same manner I did when I first experienced them.

[Taw Tu'lki]

Something from Jack London

[ReX]

23 minutes ago, Taw Tu'lki said:

Something from Jack London

Yes, excellent writer of adventure stories set in America's 19th century, including in the gold rush period of Alaska.

[El Juancho]

The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft

[RHhe82]

Aside from a couple of Finnish stuff no one on this forum has ever heard, I'm also reading Stephen King's short story collection "Skeleton Crew" (1985, I believe) and David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest" (1996), which only recently was translated into Finnish. Once I'm done with Stephen King, there's a collection of Lydia Davis' short stories waiting on my shelf.

[ax34]

Various books about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe