ThunderPeel2001

Books, books, books...

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The description of that book, Reamde, reads like the ramblings of a madman, or Idle Thumbs podcastman. MEANWHILE, a young computer engineer gets abducted onto a plane WITH her ex-boyfriend AND a brilliant Hungarian programmer, they're travelling to meet with Chinese secret service, but als the Chinese maffia, AND an Al Qaida terrorist cell!

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The description of that book, Reamde, reads like the ramblings of a madman, or Idle Thumbs podcastman. MEANWHILE, a young computer engineer gets abducted onto a plane WITH her ex-boyfriend AND a brilliant Hungarian programmer, they're travelling to meet with Chinese secret service, but als the Chinese maffia, AND an Al Qaida terrorist cell!

Why are you quoting Cato in your signature? :legalese:

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It is an eternal eyesore to me that Carthage remains undestroyed. Isn't it obvious?

You're just jealous because their soil is sweeter than yours.

Which Poirot books should I check out? I'm currently reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles (along with the damned The Tin Drum) and I have listened through many of the more famous ones (such as, Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun) a long long time ago. I don't remember much from the audiobook ones anymore - except from the three I just listed - so I could probably re-read some of those as well.

Very easy reading and fantastic way to take your mind off useless things before going to bed. Plus, the Harper series covers are pretty nice.

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Which Poirot books should I check out?

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for sure, the others are kind of a toss up depending on taste.

edit: I will say that The Big Four is not particularly good IMO.

Edited by juv3nal

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HMV in the UK has got a bunch of PG Wodehouse in nice editions for sale really cheap. Any Wodehouse fans got any recommendations? The guy has written so many it's difficult to know where to begin. Also, I think I heard somewhere that his non-Jeeves stuff is possibly his best? Thanks, Thumbs :tup:

Also, in comic book news: Buffy Season 9 has just started. It's going to be told in two titles: Buffy and Angel & Faith, which is fine by me. Oddly enough the first issue of Buffy, by Whedon himself, is a bit weird... and not all the great. I probably need to re-read it, but it felt a bit all over the place. I also never got a sense of what was going on with the characters. I'm sure it will improve, but I wasn't particularly grabbed, and it unfortunately featured some of the ugliest and garish Buffy artwork I can remember. Very strange.

Angel & Faith was oddly enough, much more satisfying and felt like a continuation of Season 8 -- answering a ton of questions that really should have been answered in that series. Plus there was a lot of Giles, which was great. So, while Season 8 certainly had its major bumps, it seems as though this series is going to retro-actively attempt to fix them -- it's already done a fairly decent job.

I'm sure I'm the only who cares about this... but I'm going to keep posting about it anyway :mock::getmecoat

Edited by ThunderPeel2001

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HMV in the UK has got a bunch of PG Wodehouse in nice editions for sale really cheap. Any Wodehouse fans got any recommendations? The guy has written so many it's difficult to know where to begin. Also, I think I heard somewhere that his non-Jeeves stuff is possibly his best? Thanks, Thumbs :tup:

From what I can tell, almost all his books are good but do get a bit repetitive if you read too many in one go.

That having been said, my friend recommends: Something Fresh, That's a Good Man Jeeves, Thank You Jeeves. She hasn't read a lot but thinks any of them should be pretty good anyway.

I can vouch for the first five pages of Indiscretions of Archie being good. I was going to finish it, but my girlfriend stole my copy and has yet to return it. She says it's good.

I'm sure I'm the only who cares about this... but I'm going to keep posting about it anyway :mock::getmecoat

I was always more interested in Buffy fandom than in Buffy itself, so that's fine by me.

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Do not read A Song of Ice and Fire. It is crack on paper and you will go through serious withdrawal after realizing the next book isn't out yet.

Goddamn.

That having been said, book 5: not as good as books 1-3, better than 4. I'm kind of mad at his editor. (S)he could have easily made them into one big book and not lost anything of substance. There's superfluous crap in both and every once in a while the pacing needed help. But still, pretty good. I'm normally avert to fantasy, and this kept me going.

The best thing is that the backstory is easily as good as what's happening right now. A work of talent.

So far, I'd rank them as: A Storm of Swords (probably one of the most brilliant novels I've ever read, plot-wise), A Clash of Kings/A Game of Thrones, A Dance With Dragons, A Feast for Crows. Had 4 and 5 been the one book they were originally meant to be, it may have been the best or second best of the series, since there's some really good stuff in there.

I'm addicted. Goddamn cliffhangers.

Edited by Kroms

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I stopped reading at the beginning of the fourth book, due to it being such a heavy and depressing series.

All of my favorite characters keep dying!

If

Jon or Tyrion

ever died, I would probably literally quit reading. As it is, I'd like to get back to reading at some point. I don't have the time for such things like I used to.

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I stopped reading at the beginning of the fourth book, due to it being such a heavy and depressing series.

All of my favorite characters keep dying!

If

Jon or Tyrion

ever died, I would probably literally quit reading. As it is, I'd like to get back to reading at some point. I don't have the time for such things like I used to.

I don't think GRRM would let that happen. I know that he's not particularly averse to killing off main characters, but they feel so integral to his plot that killing one or both of them would certainly mortally destabilize the series.

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I don't think GRRM would let that happen. I know that he's not particularly averse to killing off main characters, but they feel so integral to his plot that killing one or both of them would certainly mortally destabilize the series.

I like to hope so. I'll also add

Aria

to that list. X:

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So far, I'd rank them as: A Storm of Swords (probably one of the most brilliant novels I've ever read, plot-wise), A Clash of Kings/A Game of Thrones, A Dance With Dragons, A Feast for Crows. Had 4 and 5 been the one book they were originally meant to be, it may have been the best or second best of the series, since there's some really good stuff in there.

Mostly agreed, though I think a Game of Thrones is definitely better than a Clash of Kings. Whether that's just because it's the introduction to this world and Martin's style I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it more for whatever reason. Also, while it didn't particularly bother me, I know other people have sometimes had a lot of trouble with a Clash of Kings due to its heavy focus on war. It seems like the second book often culls a lot of the people who enjoyed the first, leaving only the fairly hardcore adherents of the series.

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Mostly agreed, though I think a Game of Thrones is definitely better than a Clash of Kings. Whether that's just because it's the introduction to this world and Martin's style I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it more for whatever reason. Also, while it didn't particularly bother me, I know other people have sometimes had a lot of trouble with a Clash of Kings due to its heavy focus on war. It seems like the second book often culls a lot of the people who enjoyed the first, leaving only the fairly hardcore adherents of the series.

A Clash of Kings has this odd schtick of not being a sequel. It feels more like a reboot, haphazardly introducing new concepts, themes, families and a whole new tone. I didn't like it as much as I liked A Game of Thrones, initially, but upon reading some crazy fan theories

(R+L=J)

and re-reading bits of it for clarity

(the Reek/Ramsay subplot with Theon, for instance)

it became better, and over time I've come to think of it as its prequel's equal. It really benefits from that quick re-read, because you're no longer expecting it to be like A Game of Thrones and can appreciate it for its own.

Notably, a lack of Ned required adjustment since you no longer have a supposed protagonist to identify with.

The House of the Undying scene is especially interesting, so far on. It gives away the Red Wedding, for instance. How crazy is that? And then there's Lord Manderley introduced, many side characters and a fuckload of foreshadowing.

A Dance With Dragons is full of gems, also. For instance,

if you're really paying attention, you'll realize that Lord Manderley fed Roose Bolton and the Freys some Frey-flavoured pie. And I never realized that Abel was Mance until way after I was done reading. There's a million little things in the book that make it more special.

Actually, there's a good one someone pointed out to me in A Storm of Swords.

The children play a game called "Lord of the Crossing" in A Clash of Kings where the important word is "mayhaps". It's an idea that Old Walder Frey takes further when he orchestrates the Red Wedding, throwing a mayhaps everytime he promises Robb safe shelter and food when he first arrives at the hall.

The books are full of stuff like that. It makes me love them on a whole new level.

Edited by Kroms

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I like to hope so. I'll also add

Aria

to that list. X:

I should reread this series from the start if I ever have that much time. Just got the 5th book, but haven't started yet. I read them all far enough apart (and some in Estonian, some in English) that I don't remember all the plot details. Recently when talking to someone about the series, I was pretty sure that

Aria died. I don't even remember if she got close to dying in a cliffhanger or why I thought that.

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Recently when talking to someone about the series, I was pretty sure that

Aria died. I don't even remember if she got close to dying in a cliffhanger or why I thought that.

You may be thinking of the end of a Game of Thrones, I think it was, in which

Arya is being taken away from King's Landing by a Night's Watch recruiter, if I remember rightly, and he grabs her by the hair and pulls out a dagger. It's been a while but I think it was written in such a way, and left at a particular point in the chapter, that made it seem like he might be about to slit her throat. In actual fact he cuts her hair.

There may be another similar instance but I can't really remember. I feel like I'd probably benefit from a re-read of the Ice and Fire books, but I don't think I have the time, energy or patience. Maybe when the next book is near.

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I thought I'd put this here as well. If anyone would know about something like this, it'd be Thumbs.

Trying to find a book, I believe published by Reader's Digest, maybe half an inch thick, probably less. Hardcover. Old. It had various puzzles, games and stories. If I remember correctly, among the stories were

- The Speckled Band (Sherlock Holmes)

- Revenge of the Tommyknockers

- Runaway Train Something Something

There was some game about racing in old cars (seems like maybe late era Model Ts and the like?) in places like the Ural Mountains

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Nothing I've tried reading recently has grabbed me. I miss the insane layering A Song of Ice and Fire does, so I wrote this review of book three to try and explore what I mean. It works as an explanation of the series as a whole. It's spoiler-free.

I'll try keeping this short. All (so far) five Song of Ice and Fire books have their ups and their downs, but it's hard to top A Storm of Swords for density. You kind of have to admire how cleverly George RR Martin weaves plot with story with backstory with legend with character development with action with heartbreak, with each page mattering and each matter handled so gracefully, resulting in what is essentially crack on paper. George RR Martin is a man who plays fair. He foreshadows, he hints, he throws in subtle prophecies that make little sense until you re-read with the benefit of hindsight. He is, in other words, a master. Every kill and death, twist and turn, are fully earned; they are needed, hurtful and effective, and George isn't going to pull a punch or ten to stem the flow of your tears. There is heartbreak, yes. George RR Martin wants to break you. He breaks people. He broke me several times. Not a lot of people could handle this series after Storm ended. It is relentlessly grim, and surprisingly depressing.

Yet it's overflowing with whatever crack-level addiction the crazy man possesses, and after a certain scene (we'll call it "Castamere") these two qualities blended to create this situation where I knew the book was bad for my health but couldn't stop reading. I joked to my friend that the book should come with a suicide hotline number stuck on the front cover. It is, as of now (book five), the best in what is a remarkable series. For fans, you get a lot of resolution, a lot of intrigue and new setup (not all of which has been followed-up on yet; crazy George, where are you going with this?). For someone who's just studying how to structure a mad-crazy book, here's a caveat: the book climaxes no less than six times. You could argue it climaxes eight times. You could learn a thing or six (or eight) from it.

Characters change. You get new perspectives on fascinating people, long gone. Because of the way the books are structured - chapters are divided by viewpoint, giving you different sides of the story for you to piece the puzzle together - you get new insight into the people you already know. You see those you hate in a different light. There are characters you love who, sometimes in death, you find yourself cheering for. Dimensions are added, cliches removed. People have motives, dammit, and those you thought were painted in black and white suddenly emerge in shades of grey. As of A Dance With Dragons, there is only one character who I would call truly good or evil, and even they may have more to them than meets the eye.

It's not perfect. The prose can sometimes be clunky and I'm not a fan of the awkward sex scenes. The book is emotionally draining. There's a lot to take in, plot-wise, and that's ignoring the second, subtle layer of brilliant you'll most likely overlook ("Mayhaps", for instance, or all the prophesizing and foreshadowing which has come to pass). But I'd recommend it anyway. Even if you don't usually like fantasy (and I'm not the world's biggest fan of the genre), I'd still recommend giving the series a try. It's worth it.

This all coming from someone who doesn't typically enjoy fantasy.

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A lot of people recommend that series, but I just couldn't get into it. I cracked the first book and it seemed like as soon as I got a sense of the characters in a section (chapter?) and actually cared what was going on, he'd cut away to a different set of characters. Annoyed me enough that I had to put it down. Would it kill him to just stick with a plotline for maybe twice as long as he does before shifting streams?

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Would it kill him to just stick with a plotline for maybe twice as long as he does before shifting streams?

Yes. Yes, it would.

I'm currently reading the first book, and I take heart in the fact that there's only 8 "perspectives"... but his tendency to have to set up a whole new scenario at the beginning of each chapter is getting a bit tiresome.

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