So what are you reading, now? Part V

[Starbreaker]

Finished Vendetta and thought it was rather meh. Didn't like Reannon or Delcara, and thought Korsomo was a jerk. And Picard's characterization as regards Delcara was bizarre. Glad I read it though, because now I've read it.

Started a re-read of Avatar. Gonna try to get caught up on modern Trek sometime this decade.

I thought Vendetta was weird too.

 

[Greg Cox]

Here is my shortlist of stuff to read next year. Let me know what you think:

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

The Tim Powers books are both great. I'm a big Powers fan.

My dad and girlfriend both loved Devil in the White City, but I haven't read it yet.

Meanwhile, I've just started Richard Matheson on Screen by Matthew Bradley. It's a comprehensive examination of both movies and tv shows written by Matheson and film adaptations of his work. The author is an old friend of mine who has been working on this book for years.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Stayed up until 2 am last night finishing The Romulan War; now I'm looking to finish either The Great American Wolf or The Open Door.

 

[Greg Cox]

Replay is easily one of my favorite novels now. Iwas really emotionally invested in Jeff's life. Can't believe I'd never heard of it until last month. Reading The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers now.

If you liked REPLAY, you ought to check out TIME AND CHANCE by Alan Brennert, which strikes similar chords.

It's about two versions of the same guy, in alternate timelines, who trade places to see what their lives would have been like if they had made different choices.

A different gimmick than REPLAY, but very similar in tone and execution.

I believe Tor is reprinting the book soon, but you may be able to find a used copy in the meantime . . . .

 

[David R. George III]

^ I remember enjoying David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself some years ago, which posits another clever take on the whole one man time-traveling thing.

 

[Starbreaker]

I did pick up The Man Who Folded Himself. I'll check out Time and Chance in July!

 

[Count Zero]

I finished the TOS/Section 31 novel Cloak by S. D. Perry a while ago. I was very intrigued by the book at first, well into the second half because the big three were characterised well, the supporting characters were interesting and the story was overall well written. The resolution of the story was a bit rushed in my opinion, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place a little too convienently for my taste. But overall, a good read.

I'm not getting on with Saturn's Children very quickly. I actually like the story but somehow I'm not quite in the mood for it often lately.
I've begun reading The Rough Beasts of Empire which has been quite awesome so far.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Here is my shortlist of stuff to read next year. Let me know what you think:

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers

You can't go wrong with Powers. Read OST before the next "Pirates of the Caribbean" comes out, and then you can see what (if anything) from Tim's book makes it into the film.

 

[JD]

Think I'll have a Pratchett run over Xmas, starting with The Truth, since the last one I read was Fifth Elephant...

Think I'll have a Pratchett run over Xmas, starting with The Truth, since the last one I read was Fifth Elephant...

The last one I've read so far is Soul Music. I'll be starting Interesting Times as the first book I start in 2011.

I'm reading Mort right now, and I have Men at Arms on my Nookbook wishlist.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Putting aside my regular reading for a special Christmas book: Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror.

In another Christmas story, Dale Pearson, evil developer, self-absorbed woman hater, and seemingly unredeemable curmudgeon, might by visited in the night by a series of ghosts who, by showing him bleak visions of Christmas future, past, and present, would bring about in him a change to generosity, kindness, and a general warmth toward his fellow man. But this is not that kind of Christmas story, so here, in not too many pages, someone is going to dispatch the miserable son of a bitch with a shovel. That's the spirit yet to come in these parts. Ho, ho, ho.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Although I have my Kindle, I have no money to buy anything on it right now, so I am working my way through all of the Star Trek books I have on my to read pile (around 50). I also got my NRH library card today (the first one I remember owning) and made a list of books I could get from the library. I picked up Jeffery Deaver's new book The Burning Wire, Laura Bynum's debut novel Veracity, and a book I've always wanted to read, Frank Herbert's Dune.

 

[JD]

I've decided to wait until I finish one of the other books I'm reading before I read anymore Dracula. I haven't gotten past the introduction written by a modern literary critic, so I don't need to worry about remembering what is going on.

 

[Smellincoffee]

About to head off with the family to a Christmas feast at another relative's house -- I'll be taking Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell with me. Nothing says Christmas like Anglo-Danish warfare.

 

[Starbreaker]

The book that has grabbed my attention right now is The Devil in the White City. Definitely a hell of a lot better than the crappy HH Holmes documentary I watched last week already.

 

[nickyboy]

Just finished the 1st story contained in Shattered Mirror loved it.

 

[JWolf]

I've decided to wait until I finish one of the other books I'm reading before I read anymore Dracula. I haven't gotten past the introduction written by a modern literary critic, so I don't need to worry about remembering what is going on.

I read Dracula. It was rather dull.

 

[Starbreaker]

I've never been a big fan of the original Dracula and Frankenstein novels. However; I recognize their importance.

 

[JD]

^That's the main reason I'm reading alot of these classics. Mostly it's because I feel guilty that I've never read them. Well... that and most of them actually do sound pretty interesting to me.

 

[Christopher]

I find Stoker's Dracula rather intriguing from a structural standpoint. Not only is it an epistolary novel, i.e. one which purports to be a compilation of letters, journals, articles, etc., but the actual process of compiling those documents into a book is itself a subplot of the book, in that it helps the characters gather evidence and piece together answers to the mystery of who and what Dracula is. It's also interesting how much the novel feels like product placement for that amazing newfangled invention, the typewriter.

What interests me about Shelley's Frankenstein is how completely society seems to have misunderstood its theme. People tend to assume its message was "It's evil to play God by creating life," but I think the intended message is, "When you create life, you need to take responsibility for it and treat it well." The creature is a child abused and rejected by his father and then by everyone else he meets simply because he's ugly, and he responds to that abuse by becoming bitter and hostile. If Frankenstein's prejudices and superstitions hadn't made him shun his creation, if he'd embraced it rather than hating it, it would've been a very different story (which is why Young Frankenstein is such a great Frankenstein story in its own right, not merely a parody).

 

[JWolf]

^That's the main reason I'm reading alot of these classics. Mostly it's because I feel guilty that I've never read them. Well... that and most of them actually do sound pretty interesting to me.

The premise and description of Dracula is interesting. The writing is dull as can be.