Friday
Well-Known Member
I've got all the Ender's up to Shadow of the Hedgemon, but I just can't get into the speaker series. I mean I bought them, and read them, but they just didn't groove with me nearly as much as Game or Shadow has.
supermusli
Well-Known Member
I try to read a lot. Mostly classics, scifi and fantasy, and some of the "generation-authors" (ie young lost men writing about young lost men...).
Some books/authors I can recommend:
JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion)
CS Lewis (Narnia-novels, Cosmic Trilogy)
Jerome K Jerome (Three men in a boat)
Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy)
Terry Pratchett (Discworld-novels, Good Omen with Neil Gaiman)
PG Woodhouse (Jeeves and Wooster)
Frederic Pohl (Stargate-quadrology)
Arthur C Clarke (Rama-novels, 2001-novels)
Isaac Asimov (Foundation-novels)
Michael Chabon (Kavalier and Clay)
Nick Hornby (High Fidelity)
Michael Moore (Stupid white men, Dude where´s my country)
AA Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes)
And some yet on my list to read:
Orson Scott Card
Robert E. Howard (Conan)
HP Lovecraft
I have also read through most of the Bible. Interesting, but they really should hire Mark Millar or someone to rewrite the most boring parts. In which case, the book of revelations surely would be written as a six-part arc, with widescreen action, and Jesus would be the result of the hebreew super solider program. Now that I think about it, I WOULD like to see Bryan Hitch do the art...
Some books/authors I can recommend:
JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion)
CS Lewis (Narnia-novels, Cosmic Trilogy)
Jerome K Jerome (Three men in a boat)
Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy)
Terry Pratchett (Discworld-novels, Good Omen with Neil Gaiman)
PG Woodhouse (Jeeves and Wooster)
Frederic Pohl (Stargate-quadrology)
Arthur C Clarke (Rama-novels, 2001-novels)
Isaac Asimov (Foundation-novels)
Michael Chabon (Kavalier and Clay)
Nick Hornby (High Fidelity)
Michael Moore (Stupid white men, Dude where´s my country)
AA Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes)
And some yet on my list to read:
Orson Scott Card
Robert E. Howard (Conan)
HP Lovecraft
I have also read through most of the Bible. Interesting, but they really should hire Mark Millar or someone to rewrite the most boring parts. In which case, the book of revelations surely would be written as a six-part arc, with widescreen action, and Jesus would be the result of the hebreew super solider program. Now that I think about it, I WOULD like to see Bryan Hitch do the art...
Seldes Katne
Site mom
Recommended Reads
We have a forum for movies and television, and of course whole sets of boards for comic books and graphic novels, but I'd like to start a thread for people to recommend non-comic books and novels they've read that would be of interest to others. This can serve just as a thread for recommendations, or to discuss books if more than one person has read them. Everyone is free to add recommendations.
So, to start things off:
Title: Mortal Engines
Author: Philip Reeve
Summary: In the far future of Earth, cities of the world move over the landscape on huge traction wheels. Large cities devour smaller, slower cities for their food supplies and raw materials. It is the age of "Municipal Darwinism", in which the large and strong eat the small and weak.
However, the cities are still inhabited. Tom, who is apprenticed to the Historians' Guild, lives in the mobile city of London. He is finally getting to meet his idol – the Head of the Guild and famous explorer/adventurer Thaddeus Valentine, and Valentine's daughter, Katherine. But just as Tom gets to exchange a few words with his hero, a horribly disfigured girl leaps at Valentine with a knife. Tom saves him, knocking the girl over the edge of the city, presumably to her death. In gratitude, Valentine apologizes to Tom, grabs him by the shirt, and throws him over the edge after her.
Tom and the girl, whose name is Hester, begin to track London on foot over the bare ground. As they travel, Hester tells him her story: far from being a hero, Valentine killed her parents and gave her the terrible scar across her face. The two travelers have a series of adventures, captured by pirates, rescued by the aviatrix Anna Fang, and coming at last to the almost fabled land of Shan Guo, where people live in "static" cities that don't move, protected by the great Northern Air Fleet.
In the meantime, Katherine Valentine makes some discoveries of her own. She finds out about a mysterious project called MEDUSA, which involves the use of Old Tech, the study of technology developed before the Sixty Minute War which caused the rise of the mobile cities. MEDUSA is aboard London, which is also traveling to Shan Guo. But what is it, and how does London's mayor plan to use it? And what part did Katherine's father play in its discovery?
Mortal Engines is a young adult novel, but is cleverly written and developed enough for adults to appreciate as well. Reeve has just published a sequel, equally well written, called Predator's Gold. (The term refers to someone who sells information on the location of a "prey" city or town to hunters from a larger city, in return for 30 pieces of gold.)
We have a forum for movies and television, and of course whole sets of boards for comic books and graphic novels, but I'd like to start a thread for people to recommend non-comic books and novels they've read that would be of interest to others. This can serve just as a thread for recommendations, or to discuss books if more than one person has read them. Everyone is free to add recommendations.
So, to start things off:
Title: Mortal Engines
Author: Philip Reeve
Summary: In the far future of Earth, cities of the world move over the landscape on huge traction wheels. Large cities devour smaller, slower cities for their food supplies and raw materials. It is the age of "Municipal Darwinism", in which the large and strong eat the small and weak.
However, the cities are still inhabited. Tom, who is apprenticed to the Historians' Guild, lives in the mobile city of London. He is finally getting to meet his idol – the Head of the Guild and famous explorer/adventurer Thaddeus Valentine, and Valentine's daughter, Katherine. But just as Tom gets to exchange a few words with his hero, a horribly disfigured girl leaps at Valentine with a knife. Tom saves him, knocking the girl over the edge of the city, presumably to her death. In gratitude, Valentine apologizes to Tom, grabs him by the shirt, and throws him over the edge after her.
Tom and the girl, whose name is Hester, begin to track London on foot over the bare ground. As they travel, Hester tells him her story: far from being a hero, Valentine killed her parents and gave her the terrible scar across her face. The two travelers have a series of adventures, captured by pirates, rescued by the aviatrix Anna Fang, and coming at last to the almost fabled land of Shan Guo, where people live in "static" cities that don't move, protected by the great Northern Air Fleet.
In the meantime, Katherine Valentine makes some discoveries of her own. She finds out about a mysterious project called MEDUSA, which involves the use of Old Tech, the study of technology developed before the Sixty Minute War which caused the rise of the mobile cities. MEDUSA is aboard London, which is also traveling to Shan Guo. But what is it, and how does London's mayor plan to use it? And what part did Katherine's father play in its discovery?
Mortal Engines is a young adult novel, but is cleverly written and developed enough for adults to appreciate as well. Reeve has just published a sequel, equally well written, called Predator's Gold. (The term refers to someone who sells information on the location of a "prey" city or town to hunters from a larger city, in return for 30 pieces of gold.)
Goodwill
Well-Known Member
I thoroughly enjoyed Lord of the Flies... Of all of the books that I've read, I found this one to be the most entertaining and the most suspenseful, something that doesn't bode well in books. I think that symbolism and irony are huge parts of this book and I really think that those components make it one of the best books that I've ever read. I recommend this book to all of you!
Friday
Well-Known Member
Hrmmmmm..... Let's see here. How about Shutter Island? Basicly 2 Federal Marshels go to an asylum on an island off the coast of boston in the 1950s to invesitgate the disapearance of a patient there. It's written by Dennis LEhane, the writer of Mystic River if anyone has seen or read that, and is quite good.
Good Omens is a great one, where the Anti-christ is born, then lost in a baby swap. The Forces of good and evil on earth are pretty good friends, and the prophecies of the end of the world are nice, simple, and easy to read. And don't forget Queen. The band that is. I know some of us have read it, but if you haven't you should deffinatly read it.
Good Omens is a great one, where the Anti-christ is born, then lost in a baby swap. The Forces of good and evil on earth are pretty good friends, and the prophecies of the end of the world are nice, simple, and easy to read. And don't forget Queen. The band that is. I know some of us have read it, but if you haven't you should deffinatly read it.
Goodwill
Well-Known Member
I've heard about that book... How long is it would you say?
Also, if you haven't guessed from my X-Men writing, I really like Hamlet for some reason or another. I know it's odd that I'm 17 and I actually dig the Bard, but, yeah, I'll admit that Hamlet is one of my favorites, too.
Also, if you haven't guessed from my X-Men writing, I really like Hamlet for some reason or another. I know it's odd that I'm 17 and I actually dig the Bard, but, yeah, I'll admit that Hamlet is one of my favorites, too.
ultimatedjf
Well-Known Member
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
Understanding Comics
and
Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud
And as of right now, I'm in the middle of
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
and
The Long Walk by Stephen King
the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
Understanding Comics
and
Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud
And as of right now, I'm in the middle of
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
and
The Long Walk by Stephen King
Friday
Well-Known Member
Goodwill said:
McBeth man, I loved McBeth.
ultimatedjf said:
I hated Catcher, just seemed to have no point to it. On the other hand I loved The Long Walk. It single handedly got me on a Steven King kick for a while.
DigiEmissary
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2005
- Messages
- 203
American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
Great plot, characters and twists. Gaiman knows the myths he weaves into today's world. I don't want to spoil any of it, which is why i'm being vague, but it's definitely a must-read.
Great plot, characters and twists. Gaiman knows the myths he weaves into today's world. I don't want to spoil any of it, which is why i'm being vague, but it's definitely a must-read.
Friday
Well-Known Member
DigiEmissary said:
Just make sure you skip the chapter that starts with the indian taxi driver.
DigiEmissary
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2005
- Messages
- 203
Baxter said:
Yeah, that was :dead:
Seldes Katne
Site mom
One of Goodwill's fics in the Fanfiction section reminded me a little of this YA novel, so I'm posting it here.
Title: Touching Spirit Bear
Author: Ben Mikaelsen
Cole Matthews has spent most of his life stealing and fighting. He's become an expert at getting around the juvenile court system and being given second chances. But when he robs a hardware store and brags about it in school, another student turns him in. Cole gets revenge by beating the other student so badly that the boy is hospitalized and permanently crippled.
Cole is expected to stand trial and go to jail. But he is then offered the possibility of an alternative form of justice -- Native American Circle Justice. If he's accepted into the program, he will live in isolation for a year, guided by occasional visits from a Native American elder and a parole officer.
Cole thinks Circle Justice is just another charity program, and he puts on an act, hoping to be accepted and avoid jail time. He plans to run away as soon as he gets a chance. When he's taken to the island on which he'll serve his year, the elder gives him advice about survival, and tells him of the Spirit Bears that live on another island. Cole waits until the elder leaves, then burns the supplies and tries to swim to the mainland. But he ends up back on the island as the tide comes in. He is attacked by a mysterious white bear and must survive by himself, unable to move, until the elder returns.
This is just the beginning of Cole's trials. He is discharged from the Circle Justice program for breaking his agreement, but something has happened to him during his time of survival. He struggles to regain the trust that will allow him to go back to the island, and once there he must teach himself a new path, aided by advice from the elder and his own feelings. More struggle is yet to come, because the boy Cole beat has lost his own will to live, and part of Cole's recovery will depend on helping his former victim find an new path as well.
Some of Cole's problems remain unsolved at the end of the story -- his relationship with his father is still up in the air, and there's no indication of what will happen after his year is up. Touching Spirit Bear is a quick, involving read, although some of the scenes are rather graphic. However, it's an excellent coming of age novel, and it reveals a different approach to criminal justice which requires the criminal to understand and help those he hurt, as he understands and helps himself.
Title: Touching Spirit Bear
Author: Ben Mikaelsen
Cole Matthews has spent most of his life stealing and fighting. He's become an expert at getting around the juvenile court system and being given second chances. But when he robs a hardware store and brags about it in school, another student turns him in. Cole gets revenge by beating the other student so badly that the boy is hospitalized and permanently crippled.
Cole is expected to stand trial and go to jail. But he is then offered the possibility of an alternative form of justice -- Native American Circle Justice. If he's accepted into the program, he will live in isolation for a year, guided by occasional visits from a Native American elder and a parole officer.
Cole thinks Circle Justice is just another charity program, and he puts on an act, hoping to be accepted and avoid jail time. He plans to run away as soon as he gets a chance. When he's taken to the island on which he'll serve his year, the elder gives him advice about survival, and tells him of the Spirit Bears that live on another island. Cole waits until the elder leaves, then burns the supplies and tries to swim to the mainland. But he ends up back on the island as the tide comes in. He is attacked by a mysterious white bear and must survive by himself, unable to move, until the elder returns.
This is just the beginning of Cole's trials. He is discharged from the Circle Justice program for breaking his agreement, but something has happened to him during his time of survival. He struggles to regain the trust that will allow him to go back to the island, and once there he must teach himself a new path, aided by advice from the elder and his own feelings. More struggle is yet to come, because the boy Cole beat has lost his own will to live, and part of Cole's recovery will depend on helping his former victim find an new path as well.
Some of Cole's problems remain unsolved at the end of the story -- his relationship with his father is still up in the air, and there's no indication of what will happen after his year is up. Touching Spirit Bear is a quick, involving read, although some of the scenes are rather graphic. However, it's an excellent coming of age novel, and it reveals a different approach to criminal justice which requires the criminal to understand and help those he hurt, as he understands and helps himself.
Seldes Katne
Site mom
We were recently discussing Orson Scott Card's books over on the Ultimate Iron Man thread. Card will, of course, be writing the mini-series for that title, and for anyone who wants to see more of his work:
Title: Ender's Game
Summary: Ender Wiggins is a "Third", a third child born in a world where most families only have two. Like all children, he is under observation through a monitor wired directly into his brain. Unlike most of them, however, Ender wears it until the age of six, which is extremely unusual.
Earth is at war with an insect-like alien race. The recruiters from I.F., the International Fleet, have been watching Ender. A fight with another boy, in which Ender kicks his opponent while the other boy is helpless, brings an I.F. officer with an offer: Ender is to be enrolled in Battleschool.
Battleschool is a training academy for the best and brightest children of Earth. Here Ender will learn tactics—first as an individual, then as a team leader, and finally in simulations of space battles using entire fleets. Ender also learns the drawbacks of being a leader, especially the loneliness. The training progresses, becoming more and more involved, until the final battle simulation pitting Earth's fleets against their alien enemies. But what have the simulations really been for?
Ender's Game won both the Nebula and Hugo awards for outstanding science fiction for the year it was published. Card's next novel, Speaker for the Dead, did the same—the first time any novel and its sequel won both of SF's top awards.
Title: Ender's Game
Summary: Ender Wiggins is a "Third", a third child born in a world where most families only have two. Like all children, he is under observation through a monitor wired directly into his brain. Unlike most of them, however, Ender wears it until the age of six, which is extremely unusual.
Earth is at war with an insect-like alien race. The recruiters from I.F., the International Fleet, have been watching Ender. A fight with another boy, in which Ender kicks his opponent while the other boy is helpless, brings an I.F. officer with an offer: Ender is to be enrolled in Battleschool.
Battleschool is a training academy for the best and brightest children of Earth. Here Ender will learn tactics—first as an individual, then as a team leader, and finally in simulations of space battles using entire fleets. Ender also learns the drawbacks of being a leader, especially the loneliness. The training progresses, becoming more and more involved, until the final battle simulation pitting Earth's fleets against their alien enemies. But what have the simulations really been for?
Ender's Game won both the Nebula and Hugo awards for outstanding science fiction for the year it was published. Card's next novel, Speaker for the Dead, did the same—the first time any novel and its sequel won both of SF's top awards.
Ice
Teh Sexy Monkey Queen
I'm still currently reading ths book. It really is great. I was gonna take a bathroom break, but I just couldn't stop reading! It's just very, very good.
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Dr.Strangefate
He Sees You When You're Sleeping. He Knows When Yo
DigiEmissary said:
That is Gaiman's best book... but you've got to also take a look at:
Stardust - Traditional Fantasy by the best modern fantasy writer
Neverwhere - Alice in Wonderland-esque journey into the dark and frightening "London Below"
Coraline - Childrens book... but not.
Good Omens is also half-written by Gaiman, and that's already been mentioned.
... other writers
ANYTHING by Douglas Adams
Interview With the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice (superb books, the rest of the Vamp Chronicles are hit and miss)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
If you like funny, then look up David Sedaris
Im also a Shakespeare geek, but more of the Comedies, specifically Midsummer, As you like it, and The Merchant of Venice.
