What are you reading?

[Libaax]

Well about Gibson i plan to his most famous work and see if i like him.



Me i have to buy new books in paperbacks cause they are cheap but i would like more 2nd hand stores who have good SF. I havent one store like that so far.


Never read Heinlein? I think he is great. The reason i like SF are cause of writers like him,Asimov,Dick that writes a story that makes you think.


Im not too keen on space wars type SF.


For example i liked Ender's Game but Card wasted too much time on so called action and battles and only in the end thought i must write something clever to make people think.

[uncempt]

I wish paperbacks were cheap in Britain. £8 for a new one is just too much for me. But it won't be long til e-paper really kicks off and we can start downloading them for a pound or two I reckon. That'll be awesome

[Libaax]

I looked into Mars series it sounds interesting.


Right now im reading Man Plus - Fredrick Pohl. A classic Nebula winner from 76.

[uncempt]

I read a brief review of Man Plus, it sounds cool. Frederick Pohl seems to be obscure enough that most of his books are missing Wikipedia entries. Thats quite a recommendation I read Jem a while back, that was really trippy stuff about intelligent clouds and stuff.

[Libaax]

He is SF Grandmaster so he might not be all mainstream hype like other SF greats but he has done several classics and has respect among SF fans.


I see why Man Plus is very interesting. I mean a man being made into a Cyborg so he can function in Mars and make preperations so americans can live there.


Both Man Plus,Gateway are classics of his He won Nebula for both books. I have both

[arke]

Wanna read Gibson,Sterling,Powers,Richard K Morgan etc

And Stephenson! Snow Crash is fairly cyberpunkish with The Diamond Age somewhat less so.

[Libaax]

Yeah im gonna read him too.


Several of his work sounds like what im looking for.


Have you read several of his work? Anything about what makes him good?

[arke]

In his past four (or six if you count differently) works, he's changed quite a bit. Snow Crash is a short, fun cyberpunk read. The Diamond Age is similar, but slightly more complex and with a richer world. Cryptonomicon and vastly more so The Baroque Cycle are long, and increasingly complex with multiple developed characters, extreme detail, and a fondness for deviating into alternate narrative styles.

[Libaax]

Im seeing a pattern i dont like in much of the modern SF so i have read more people like him. People that try different stuff. More people of the so called new wave.

Im alittle sick of space military,space opera thingies right now.


After Pohl.

Its Morgan and Stephenson.

[uncempt]

hehe, I just started Green Mars! You know how sometimes you have to read a whole trilogy back to back?

[Libaax]

Tell me about it I went crazy having to wait weeks for book 2 and 3 of Shannow series by David Gemmell.



Right now im reading Salem's Lot by Stephen King. Its good so far. It has this really intense creepy mode going on. But i see what people mean when they diss his style of writing he isnt a very good writer but he is a good storyteller lucky for him.

[Malvado]

Ok so I finally got around to finishing Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. What kind of ending is that...sucks just like the end of Halo 2 and I already miss [spoiler]kurt[/spoiler]

Starting Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell. I have already been blessed by the introduction alone.

[halfnhalf]

sucks just like the end of Halo 2[/spoiler]

there is your problem, you read a book on a shitty story from the first place.

[Libaax]

Im reading The Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden, its the second book in his Emperor series.



Also read Wolf In The Plains by the same guy about Ghengis Khan early life. Very interesting book historical fiction that was almost perfect historical accuracy and the way he told their culture. Called by the way Ghengis: Birth of an Empire in US(stupid title or what..)

[Rolos]

i m reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".
i have never been much of a fan of philosophic literature, but Friedrich Nietzsche simply caught me.
he sometimes gets a little repetitive with all that "Superhuman" bullshit, but the book is awesome. its amazing how someone can express so much through simple bible-like speech.
i know he has been critized a lot because of his bizarre points of view concerning morality and the sense of existence (i mean, cmon, sometimes you really get lost in the intrincated and often seemingly contradictory ideology the book contains), but the man was a genius.
it can be pretty confusing, all the time hanging between atheism, agnostisism and who knows what else.
at one moment you are sure you got what he meant to express (Zarathustra: poor fool....he doesnt know god is dead = religion is obsolete, along with all kind of gnosis) and the next you are wondering why the following sentence directly contradicts what you just thought it meant.

is a must-read book.

[psi29a]

Location: Chilean Republic, South America (You probably didnt know this place even exists)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the same place as Chile?

[Libaax]

I have three Ray Bradbury books from the library and i feel for old school SF so im gonna read him.


Im gonna read The Day it Rained for Ever or Farenheit 451.

[psi29a]

I'm almost done with Confusion, about to start on System of the World.

The next book I'm going to pick up from the store is "Farewell to Alms" which is a culmination of studies that have been over the past century as to the how and why the Industrial Revolution occurred.

The New York Times is running a story on Dr. Gregory Clark's book 'A Farewell to Alms,' which offers a new explanation for the Industrial Revolution and the affluence it created. Dr. Clark, an economic historian at the University of California Davis, postulates that the surge in economic growth that occurred first in England around 1800 came about because of the strange new behaviors of nonviolence, literacy, long working hours, and a willingness to save. Clark's research shows that between 1200 and 1800, the rich had more surviving children than the poor and that he postulates that this caused constant downward social mobility as the poor failed to reproduce themselves and the progeny of the rich took over their occupations. 'The modern population of the English is largely descended from the economic upper classes of the Middle Ages,' Clark concludes. Work hours increased, literacy and numeracy rose, and the level of interpersonal violence dropped. Around 1790, a steady upward trend in production efficiency caused a significant acceleration in the rate of productivity growth that at last made possible England's escape from the Malthusian trap.

[Rolos]

Location: Chilean Republic, South America (You probably didnt know this place even exists)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the same place as Chile?

Yes, it is the same place.
I just dont like the way "Chile" sounds (when i tell the people i come from chile they tend to think im joking) so i prefer to call it Chilean Republic.

by the way, congratulations, you are the first non-south american i have ever met who actually knows about the existence of Chile.
(well, not actually met, i just dont know what expression im supossed to use in a forum)


Pd: this is why my country is so suceptible to jokes about chili:

---------- Chile -------- chili

[War Machine]

Who doesn't know Chile? It has a short, easy to remember name and it's on the west coast of South America, so it's also easy to find on a map. If some of the people you talk to aren't able to able to locate Chile, that's their problem, don't let their ignorance get to you.

Recently, I was watching an episode of Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel and they were testing the myth about some prisoner who escaped jail by corroding the metal bars in his cell with salsa, a myth that they said comes from Mexico (though I had never heard of it). Anyway, as the announcer was explaining the myth he said, and I quote: "[...] this myth from Central America". Ha! A show where they try to test the veracity myths, on a channel whose main focus is to inculcate knowledge, where facts and precision are of the utmost importance, they say that Mexico is in Central America.

Rolos, you're not alone. But remember that idiots roam all over the internet; don't take them seriously.

PS: Yeah, I know this is off topic. Here's something on-topic for a change. I've been reading the new Harry Potter book and it's weird that Harry has become way too obsessed with his girlfriend. Just take a look at this passage:

"Every nerve in him felt alive with her tough, and as he brought his body down on hers, she shuddered slightly, wrapping her hands around the back of his neck and kissing him longingly."

No funny business from what I've read so far (I doubt there will be any), but this is very uncomfortable to read.

[Malvado]

Anyway, as the announcer was explaining the myth he said, and I quote: "[...] this myth from Central America". Ha! A show where they try to test the veracity myths, on a channel whose main focus is to inculcate knowledge, where facts and precision are of the utmost importance, they say that Mexico is in Central America.

If they don't get games the same time as the North American launch then they are in central america. Like England not being in Europe. The games decide all.

If they do...then too bad. Only awesome thing they have going is the soap Rebele. The chick that plays Alma Ray is so sexy.

[War Machine]

We do actually; especially here, near the border.

Anyway, you watch Rebelde? I had to watch one episode once on the waiting room at my dentist's office because someone else had the remote control, and it was the most brutal 15 minutes I've ever spent on a waiting room. For those who have never seen it, imagine a shitty soap opera for teens along the lines of Degrassi but with a lot less coherence and pseudo-actors pretending to be teenagers, and you'll know why I feel like gouging my eyes when seeing that.

[Gaiseric]

Recently, I was watching an episode of Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel and they were testing the myth about some prisoner who escaped jail by corroding the metal bars in his cell with salsa, a myth that they said comes from Mexico (though I had never heard of it). Anyway, as the announcer was explaining the myth he said, and I quote: "[...] this myth from Central America". Ha! A show where they try to test the veracity myths, on a channel whose main focus is to inculcate knowledge, where facts and precision are of the utmost importance, they say that Mexico is in Central America.

Um, Mexico is in Central America. Cause, you know, it's between South America and North America. Though it is technically part of the North American continent, it is often referred to as Central America. Maybe its only people in the US who call it Central America because we like to distance ourselves from the Mexicans. I dont know.

[War Machine]

Um, Mexico is in Central America. Cause, you know, it's between South America and North America. Though it is technically part of the North American continent, it is often referred to as Central America.

I don't know if you're being witty so here are some pictures just in case:

North America


Central America


Look it up anywhere you want; Mexico is part of North America.

Maybe its only people in the US who call it Central America because we like to distance ourselves from the Mexicans.

I agree.

[Rolos]

Um, Mexico is in Central America. Cause, you know, it's between South America and North America. Though it is technically part of the North American continent, it is often referred to as Central America.

I don't know if you're being witty so here are some pictures just in case:

North America


Central America


Look it up anywhere you want; Mexico is part of North America.

Maybe its only people in the US who call it Central America because we like to distance ourselves from the Mexicans.

I agree.

US distancing itself from mexico??? That's outrageous!!!!

US would never do that, i mean, when has ever US given any hints of dislike towards their neighbors?

A GIANT CONCRETE WALL SEPARATING BOTH COUNTRIES?

i dont know, im not sure THAT can be considered an example of how US want to distance itself from mexico,
because they probably proposed the construction of that wall to prevent the coyotes from atacking their farms or .... (senseless reason), because it couldnt be more obvious that US loves Mexico.