What surprised me was it's a Stephen King novel. I'm not much into horror stories, but after learning the plot and reading a few of the reviews (mostly favorable), I might make an exception.
So what are you reading? Part VI
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What surprised me was it's a Stephen King novel. I'm not much into horror stories, but after learning the plot and reading a few of the reviews (mostly favorable), I might make an exception.
Hi, I'm new to the BBS but have been lurking for a while.
I'm currently going through all of the New Frontier series, all for the 2nd time. I read them out of order and with many things in between. I loved them before and love them even more now. Currently on Fire on High. I have them all except for Blind Man's Bluff, which hopefully I'll have in hand by the time I'm ready for it.
I'm currently going through all of the New Frontier series, all for the 2nd time. I read them out of order and with many things in between. I loved them before and love them even more now. Currently on Fire on High. I have them all except for Blind Man's Bluff, which hopefully I'll have in hand by the time I'm ready for it.
Reading "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus " by Charles C. Mann.
Fascinating.
Fascinating.
Stephen King's work encompasses a lot more than just the horror/thriller genres. His Dark Tower series is a wonderful dark fantasy. The Eyes of the Dragon is a lovely little modern fairy tale; The Stand is an epic story about the death and rebirth of America; The Green Mile is a Christ allegory; Hearts in Atlantis is a fascinating anthology about Vietnam-era America.
And of course, his novellas The Body and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption were the bases for the classic films Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption.
And even his horror novels have a lot more going for them than just scares: The Shining is an allegory about alcoholism and addiction; It is an epic horror novel about growing up, the power of childhood and imagination, and about how an entire community can be haunted and corrupted by its darkest secrets; Misery is all about fame and fandom; Storm of the Century is about communal and personal guilt and complicity with evil; Lisey's Story is about love and marriage.
A time travel story about someone trying to stop the Kennedy assassination, especially given King's fascination with the revolutions of the 1960s, is right up his alley!
I'm reading Bring the Noise: 20 Years of Writing About Hip Rock and Hip Hop by Simon Reynolds. It's a collection of reviews and articles, so not as coherent as past books of his that I've read (Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock, Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-Punk 1978-1984, Totally Wired: Post-Punk Interviews and Reviews), but the selection of items and Reynolds's comments following each one build a framework of commentary on race and popular music.
I'm currently reading Summer Knight, Dresden #3.
Exactly! It's a widespread misconception that King's work's are limited to the horror/thriller genre. King's books and subject matter as are about as diverse as it gets for a writer and many, many of his books are not horror books like his early works (which even in those the depth of writing went well beyond simple "horror".). He's a very gifted story teller and while elements of horror are found in many of his books, there's much, much more to King's writing.
Aside from the Dark Tower series (my favorite epic series even over Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter) and the Stand (his best single book to date IMO) which you mention, I'd strongly suggest Duma Key which was one of his best later works to date, Under the Dome, which aside from the controversial ending was very strong and the Talisman/Dark House written with Schaub.
Really though, it's hard to go too wrong with King......while he does have a few misses in his career, especially some of the short stories that are part of his collections, he's never dull and even when he doesn't deliver with the ending, the story's still pretty enjoyable from start to finish.
His collection of novellas Full Dark, No Stars is some of his best work ever. He's really hit a new stride in career somehow.
Thank you! It is nice to know some people who know more about Trek Lit than I do. Most people in my life kind of glaze over and half-smile when they see my collection.
Just finished Diane Duane and Peter Morwood's The Romulan Way, book 2 of the Rihannsu saga. Really enjoyed it! Review here.
Now I'm reading one of the oldies from my library, the hardcover The Lost Years by J.M. Dillard. I'm also reading Atheism: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Baggini. I'm really enjoying the "Very Short Introduction" series. Next on the list is A Very Short Introduction to Bertrand Russell.
Now I'm reading one of the oldies from my library, the hardcover The Lost Years by J.M. Dillard. I'm also reading Atheism: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Baggini. I'm really enjoying the "Very Short Introduction" series. Next on the list is A Very Short Introduction to Bertrand Russell.
Finished : A Feast for Crows (finally.....took forever....... review below)
Reading : Well into 11/22/63 already..
A Feast for Crows - 3/5 stars
So, having read the reviews before reading the book, I had a somewhat tempered expectation of how good the book was and as such, I wasn't as put out by some who thought it was 1 or 2 star material or was upset that it didn't contain certain popular perspectives in the story. Still, I agree that A Feast for Crows is probably the weakest entry in the series up to this point, mostly due to the lack of any chapters dedicated to the series three most popular characters for most people. While we do get chapters about characters that most enjoy and are central to the main narrative like Jamie, Brienne, Samwell, Arya, Sansa and even Ceresei, there are what feel like to me, lots of filler chapters where half the time I didn't know who the characters even were or in some cases, knew and just didn't care. Finally, the first half of the book really struggles to find it's voice and all these things combined end up making this a more challenging read than the first three and not as enjoyable overall. In the end, the only "filler" chapters I ended up being interested in at all was the Greyjoy/Iron Island story line though I certainly don't think it is integral to tell the main story.
Still, it needs to be pointed out that it's a bound to be a bit more difficult to judge the book on it's own because until books 5, 6 & 7 come out to complete the tale, it's unclear how well this chapter fits within the whole narrative. The story picks up directly after the events of Storm of Swords and really does little to change the game except towards the very end for two pivotal players and depending on how the story continues, possibly a couple other minor players. While this review probably does appear pretty negative to this point, I will say that the book really starts to pull things together around the halfway point and by the time you're 3/4 of the way through the book, it really begins to hit all it's marks quite nicely and finishes strongly. It's a shame it took so long to get the ball rolling because once it did, it felt like he was really starting to hit is grove and then the story had to end.
So, all in all, I'd say the book was well written fantasy/drama (still pretty light on the fantasy for the most part), but suffers from too many "filler" chapters of characters that most of us don't care about and that don't appear to be all that important to the main story except that he's taken the time to make them part of it. Still, since this is the middle of a much longer story it's a little difficult to judge it on it's own since it requires both the books that precede and that will follow it in order to appreciate in context.
Reading : Well into 11/22/63 already..
A Feast for Crows - 3/5 stars
So, having read the reviews before reading the book, I had a somewhat tempered expectation of how good the book was and as such, I wasn't as put out by some who thought it was 1 or 2 star material or was upset that it didn't contain certain popular perspectives in the story. Still, I agree that A Feast for Crows is probably the weakest entry in the series up to this point, mostly due to the lack of any chapters dedicated to the series three most popular characters for most people. While we do get chapters about characters that most enjoy and are central to the main narrative like Jamie, Brienne, Samwell, Arya, Sansa and even Ceresei, there are what feel like to me, lots of filler chapters where half the time I didn't know who the characters even were or in some cases, knew and just didn't care. Finally, the first half of the book really struggles to find it's voice and all these things combined end up making this a more challenging read than the first three and not as enjoyable overall. In the end, the only "filler" chapters I ended up being interested in at all was the Greyjoy/Iron Island story line though I certainly don't think it is integral to tell the main story.
Still, it needs to be pointed out that it's a bound to be a bit more difficult to judge the book on it's own because until books 5, 6 & 7 come out to complete the tale, it's unclear how well this chapter fits within the whole narrative. The story picks up directly after the events of Storm of Swords and really does little to change the game except towards the very end for two pivotal players and depending on how the story continues, possibly a couple other minor players. While this review probably does appear pretty negative to this point, I will say that the book really starts to pull things together around the halfway point and by the time you're 3/4 of the way through the book, it really begins to hit all it's marks quite nicely and finishes strongly. It's a shame it took so long to get the ball rolling because once it did, it felt like he was really starting to hit is grove and then the story had to end.
So, all in all, I'd say the book was well written fantasy/drama (still pretty light on the fantasy for the most part), but suffers from too many "filler" chapters of characters that most of us don't care about and that don't appear to be all that important to the main story except that he's taken the time to make them part of it. Still, since this is the middle of a much longer story it's a little difficult to judge it on it's own since it requires both the books that precede and that will follow it in order to appreciate in context.
Recently finished the new Enterprise opus, concluding the Romulan War. Now, I'm reading President Clinton's new book, Back to Work.
Oh, and a few hours ago, I finished the current issue of Popular Science.
Oh, and a few hours ago, I finished the current issue of Popular Science.
"Concluding"? I take it that you're referring to "To Brave the Storm"? I was under the impression that The Romulan War series is a trilogy. This is not the case? If so, that's great. I was holding off reading them until part three came out, but I may have to move them to the top of my reading pile.
It was originally planned as a trilogy, but the decision was made to cut it to two books.
It is a great book, and in keeping with CLB's great hard-SF works.I just finished Over a Torrent Sea. Mostly loved it - just a few sections where the scientific detail was more than I needed.
I'm reading Dresden #3, Grave Peril.
Trying to write too, but looking for a job is seriously interfering with that.
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Finised the Selar/Q story in New Frontier No Limits, enjoyed it for the most part, though it would have been nice to see Q himself a little more than popping in at the end. Still, I see why it focused more on the female Q and Amanda and I did enjoy it for what it was.
I read the first 2 of the Lost Tribe of the Sith ebook series and started the third this morning, enjoying it for what it is, though I suspect if I was current on the Star Wars novels it would have much more of an impact. Currently Im in the middle of New Jedi Order so I have a ways to go til Im caught up in that universe.
I have the Mission Gamma books 1-4 and book 5 of the Richard/Kahlen saga in front of me, trying to decided which direction to go.
I read the first 2 of the Lost Tribe of the Sith ebook series and started the third this morning, enjoying it for what it is, though I suspect if I was current on the Star Wars novels it would have much more of an impact. Currently Im in the middle of New Jedi Order so I have a ways to go til Im caught up in that universe.
I have the Mission Gamma books 1-4 and book 5 of the Richard/Kahlen saga in front of me, trying to decided which direction to go.
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