[juner]

Divergent
Insurgent
Allegiant

A coming-of-age series about angsty teens growing up in a dystopia separated by groups (factions). Various infighting, senseless slaughtering, big brother, etc. Not bad. Apparently they made movies that were terrible though.


The Giver

A well-written story hitting on some heavy themes (also set in a dystopia). Loss of innocence, more big brother, and some real fucked up shit. 9/10.


I actually did these on audio book. I have a long commute to work and got tired of AM sports radio.

[rooster]

The Giver was one of my first favorite books. I remember going through that one in a single day as a young lass. Good stuff. And I still love dystopian themes.

[Dionysios]

Just got ‘Rock and Sand’ by Josiah Trenham. I haven’t read it yet, but this interview of him about the book is the best presentation I’ve ever heard about Protestantism from the Orthodox Christian perspective. Although Orthodox himself, the interviewer asks good tough questions like a well informed Protestant might.

[Crudblud]

Also, I'm writing what is looking to be a pretty long review of Ready Player One, which I read over the past few days. It is not a good book.

Oh, yeah, finally got around to finishing that one. I owe a huge thanks to Snupes for encouraging me to keep working on it beyond the original draft, I think it turned out pretty well.

[Jeppspace]

Grabbing up some TinTin lately. Finally acquired the whole series. Only two left to read.

Oh also, the poems of Zoroaster. I indeed like him.

[Crudblud]

Finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Starting to think I just don't find SF particularly impressive. This was overlong and most of the stories (it's modelled after The Canterbury Tales) are boring pulp with the occasional explosion of ultraviolence. "The Priest's Tale" and "The Scholar's Tale" were very good, however.

[garygreen]

i've been on a john lecarre kick.

i've finished a murder of quality and a call for the dead, both george smiley novels.  i really liked them.  slow burn spy thriller/murder mystery done quite well imo.  i still need to read the spy who came in from the cold as i hear it tells mundt's backstory.

just started the first book of the karla trilogy, tinker tailor soldier spy.  when i finish i'll leave my review in the prearranged dead drop.

also: george, seriously bro, stop letting ann back into your life.  she's just gonna leave again.

[Benjamin Franklin]

Just finished reading Snow Crash, at the recommendation of Junker.

Really great book. Mixes a lot of eclectic topics into a nice read.

[Crudblud]

I'm about halfway through the 1200 page U.S.A. trilogy by John Dos Passos. It's basically about working class people, labour movements, anarchists etc. in early 1900s America. It's good but can be quite confusing because it shifts around through so many different characters and times and places, and some of the chapters are like fragmented first person memory narratives, while others are literally made out of cuts from newspaper headlines and articles. Enjoying it so far.

[juner]

Just finished reading Snow Crash, at the recommendation of Junker.

Really great book. Mixes a lot of eclectic topics into a nice read.

Well done, Franklin. It is time for Neuromancer.

[WellRoundedIndividual]

I love Neuromancer! Great Cyberpunk.

[Rama Set]

Then Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and you will leave no cyberpunk trope unturned.

[WellRoundedIndividual]

I have read excerpts of Sheep. I took a bunch of Lit classes in college. Reading is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to favor Fantasy fiction over Sci-Fi - my dad read us the Hobbit and the Sword of Shannara when I was 6 or so. I was hooked after that.

My favorite series of all time is the Wheel of Time - and I am anticipating great things for the Amazon screen adaptation.

[Jura-Glenlivet]

For Fantasy, I would recommend The Malazan Book of The Fallen by Steven Erikson, dense, complicated and a damn good read.

[juner]

Then Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and you will leave no cyberpunk trope unturned.

Indeed. You will wonder why you ever wasted your time watching Blade Runner after that... But it is easy to fall down the PKD rabbit hole, which I did. There are only a couple of his novels I haven't read yet.

Actually, Franklin, put A Scanner Darkly on your list. Then, when you are done reading it, get lit af and watch the animated movie. You'll thank me.

Also, get yourself a SegaCD emulator and acquire Snatcher. Then your Cyperpunk life will be mostly complete.

[Jura-Glenlivet]

Then Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and you will leave no cyberpunk trope unturned.

 Then your Cyperpunk life will be mostly complete.

Not without Slaughtermatic by Steve Aylett.

[Cain]

For Fantasy, I would recommend The Malazan Book of The Fallen by Steven Erikson, dense, complicated and a damn good read.

I'm reading that now, in fact. About halfway through Deadhouse Gates. Pretty good so far, but I wish that Erikson didn't introduce a new cast of characters for this one. Kindof sucks, considering I prefer the characters from book one.

[garygreen]

i finished tinker tailor soldier spy.  the book is significantly better than the 2011 movie, especially the jim prideaux plotline.

i think i'm gonna take a pause from george smiley and the karla trilogy.  gonna read some sci-fi next.

[Crudblud]

I'm about halfway through the 1200 page U.S.A. trilogy by John Dos Passos. It's basically about working class people, labour movements, anarchists etc. in early 1900s America. It's good but can be quite confusing because it shifts around through so many different characters and times and places, and some of the chapters are like fragmented first person memory narratives, while others are literally made out of cuts from newspaper headlines and articles. Enjoying it so far.

This was very good overall. Massive time investment, and not one I'm sure I'd be willing to make again, but it is a real achievement with great pathos. I definitely don't rate Dos Passos as highly as someone like Faulkner, and it's easy to see why he fell into relative obscurity compared to writers like Faulkner and Steinbeck, but as a social document of the US in the first couple of decades of the 20th century, I can't think of a contemporary of Dos Passos who was doing anything as broad or as deep.

Much shorter, only taking me a few days, was Philip K. Dick's Martian Time-Slip, which is basically about people going crazy on a colonised Mars. I like PKD's stories, his ideas and the things he has happen to his characters are very cool, but he is a pretty bad prose stylist. Overall I really enjoyed this, though.

[garygreen]

i did indeed read some sci-fi next.  i've completed the first two books of the culture series by iain m. banks.  i never thought there would be a sci-fi universe i enjoy as much as star trek, but i have to admit that the culture is way fucking cooler.  like star trek, the culture is basically fully-automated luxury gay space communism but on a much grander scale than star trek.  also the books in the series aren't connected; they're self-contained stories.

my favorite thing about this particular sci-fi series is that the plot is never actually driven by technology (or lack thereof).  it drives me crazy when sci-fi authors either arbitrarily disable technology that would solve the plot, or derive the plot from a technological malfunction.  banks doesn't use that device, and i dig it.

i've read consider phlebas and the player of games so far.  i really enjoyed both of them, but i recommend the player of games as the entry point to the series.  it's much more compelling, and it actually has more background on the culture than the first book.

i'm gonna skip book 3 and read excession next.  apparently it focuses on the drones and minds, and those are some of my favorite characters in the series.  i love how banks writes the culture's AI.  it's perfect.