What BOOK(s) are you reading?

My sister bought me the Mistborn Trilogy for Christmas, and I think I'm going to start in on those this evening.

I just finished Halting State by Charles Stross. I was a bit put off by the MMO theme I thought the book was about, but when I realized that was just the hook, I enjoyed it much more. I'm looking forward to starting the sequel, Rule 34 pretty soon.

Currently reading Aloha From Hell by Richard Kadrey. It's been a while since I read the first two, but there's been some nice little reminders of the previous book so I'm not completely lost like I was when I started book 2. They are very quick reads, and pretty entertaining, although I hope the Sandman Slim series has run it's course with this book, because I can see it getting old very quick.

Reamde is also on my shelf (after Rule 34). After reading Anathem (which I wasn't a fan of), I'm not going to get my hopes too high, but I hear it's not as dense.

Ska_baron wrote: Damn! I just saw it listed as "the first book" or something. What's the right order?

The order they were written in is best.

Original Trilogy

Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Second Foundation

Second series

Foundation's Edge
Foundation and Earth

Prelude Stuff

Prelude to Foundation
Forward the Foundation

You should find that the stuff in the prelude books is much more interesting once you've read the original and then the follow up stuff. Everything that is not the original trilogy was written in the 80's or later. The original trilogy was written from 1948-50 although published later.

mjl1783 wrote: Currently reading Der Untertan by Heinrich Mann on Schweig!'s recommendation; an anti-nationalist story about a preposterously servile little weasel living in pre-WWI Germany who serves as a stand-in for Wilhelmine German society in general, I guess.

Wasn't this based on the life of one of the pre-war chancellors?

wdgrant wrote: I started Ender's Game and am just a bit in. I have always heard fantastic things about this book and I am excited by the start. Are any of the sequels worthwhile, or just a case of cashing in without actually being good?

There's two sets of sequels, but I've never read any of them. The first, Speaker For the Dead, Xenocide and Children of the mind were written first. I've never heard anything good about them and have heard they are really boring. The other set is the Shadow books: Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, etc. I've heard good things about those, but I don't think anybody thinks any of the books are as great as Ender's Game.

Disgustipater wrote: Reamde is also on my shelf (after Rule 34). After reading Anathem (which I wasn't a fan of), I'm not going to get my hopes too high, but I hear it's not as dense.

Reamde is a totally different book than Anathem. Reamde is like the last chunk of Anathem all the way through, with basically zero academic mathy stuff. It's practically a Tom Clancy novel.

metalface13 wrote:

wdgrant wrote: I started Ender's Game and am just a bit in. I have always heard fantastic things about this book and I am excited by the start. Are any of the sequels worthwhile, or just a case of cashing in without actually being good?

There's two sets of sequels, but I've never read any of them. The first, Speaker For the Dead, Xenocide and Children of the mind were written first. I've never heard anything good about them and have heard they are really boring. The other set is the Shadow books: Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, etc. I've heard good things about those, but I don't think anybody thinks any of the books are as great as Ender's Game.

Allow me to set the record straight, although it has been quite some time since I've read them.

Speaker for the Dead is quite good, although it goes a different direction than Ender's Game (hence might be considered boring). You'll have an inkling of what sort of direction based on the end of Ender's Game. Xenocide goes a still third direction and goes off the rails somewhat; I never managed to finish it and most people I know thought it was meh.

The Shadow books are sort of What Is Happening During Ender's Game And Afterwards From Other People's Perspectives. So you get a book from Bean's perspective, Peter's, etc. The Bean one (Ender's Shadow, I think) is particularly annoying because you've read half the book already (Bean is a somewhat major character in Ender's Game) and then gets sort of ridiculous and preachy by the end. In general I thought they were weak but if you're really into the world they are a quick read.

When I first read Ender's Game I loved it, but when I read Speaker for the Dead I hated it, not because it was bad, but because I wanted Ender's Game II. Speaker for the Dead is a great book.

Currently I am reading Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady, by Florence King, where she says, : "No matter which sex I went to bed with, I never smoked on the street."

I read the Foundation Trilogy as a teenager and it just blew me away: Part of the great crop of epic sci-fi that was being produced back then which also included Frank Hebert's Dune and Ursula K LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness and many, many others.

On a side note, I read yesterday that Anne McCaffrey who wrote the DragonRiders of Pern series has died in Ireland. Her writing was solid and full of imagery. She could make something as simple as one of her characters bathing into an experience that years later you could still picture.

mikecl wrote: On a side note, I read yesterday that Anne McCaffrey who wrote the DragonRiders of Pern series has died in Ireland. Her writing was solid and full of imagery. She could make something as simple as one of her characters bathing into an experience that years later you could still picture.

Sad news indeed. She helped me through high school. I haven't read her since but the memories are strong.

I just finished the first Foundation book. Fan-fucking-tastic. I can't wait to dig into the next one. I am definitely going to read the trilogy, but should I read the 4th and 5th installments? I doubt I'll read the prequels, as I almost never enjoy prequel stories.

I am putting Speaker for the Dead on my iPod to read after I've finished Foundation. I know it is a complete change of pace from Ender's Game, but I want to give it a try.

I am reading THE GREAT SPERM WHALE by Richard Ellis . It's fascinating. That is one weird animal. Whales just don't seem possible, and this crazy whale seems least likely of all. Some kind of sonic weapon in its head (maybe!); enamel-free peg teeth--only on the bottom though, so not really used for chewing; square where rounds would seem better; rippled where smooth would be better; poops musky smelling gold--sometimes! Crazy. Find it at your local library, &c.

wdgrant wrote: I just finished the first Foundation book. Fan-fucking-tastic. I can't wait to dig into the next one. I am definitely going to read the trilogy, but should I read the 4th and 5th installments? I doubt I'll read the prequels, as I almost never enjoy prequel stories.

I am putting Speaker for the Dead on my iPod to read after I've finished Foundation. I know it is a complete change of pace from Ender's Game, but I want to give it a try.

I consider the 3rd Foundation book to be the end of the Foundation story. I only read books 4 & 5 once, but I found them boring, annoying, and cheesy. Lots of New Age-y stuff that just made the whole thing seem like he had an agenda. Book 3 gives a totally satisfactory ending to the story, IMO. I never read the prequels, but I had heard that they were pretty good. Not written in the episodic style of the first books, but a decent story in it's own right.

I really liked Speaker for the Dead. It's not Ender's Game 2, but it makes sense considering the emotional and mental change that Ender goes through at the end of EG. Never got into Xenophobe.

Actually think I read Xenophobe first when I stumbled upon it in my high school library and never realized it was in a series until I'd started. Great book, but still not an Ender sequel. I've enjoyed them all in the series, but it's a lot due to expectations being met (that they're very different and not just a continuation of the story you'd loved). Also enjoyed the books focusing on Bean, but some folks dont.

I'm currently a third through Truman by McCullough and he's just assumed the presedency. Great, great stuff so far. This guy is the history teacher every kid should have as he makes it stories about people, not just dates. Looking forward to Truman's turmoil as he decides to drop the bomb and I know just about 0 details of the Korean War, so I'm stoked about that too. Also, FDR was kind of a douche. Just sayin.

Halfway through, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Fascinating stuff. Couple of areas lost me, a couple of theories I'm not sold on. Overall well-written (if not intellectually elitist) and for the most part comprehensive.

Next in the queue "Strangers in Paradise" Vol. 1 by Terry Moore.