FF:NSW So what are you reading these days?

Aside from the 8 comic titles lin and i collect, i am currently near the end of the first book of the Mallorean by David Eddings. i just finished the Belgariad (the series that came before it), and was most pleased.


And you?

 

I'm currently reading the first book in the Master and Commander Series.

Just finished an early book by Alan Dean Foster and heading to the library tonight to pick up a few new books.

 

Most recent books I finished reading: Pompeii by Robert Harris, Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (again), Eye In The Sky by Philip K Dick, and Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud.

Now I'm about 20 pages from the end of Monkey by Wu Che'eng-en, about 20 pages into Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (again), a few stories into Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K Dick (again), and at various stages of about another dozen or so other books, plus another bundle of boring maths/stats books that I need to read.

 

Well...I'm reading 'The Thin Red Line' by James Jones, and then I'll be reading 'Whistle' by James Jones...and then I'll be reading 'From Here To Eternity' by...the same author. It's a trilogy. So shoot me.
And a bloody good one at that

 

Im reading "The Angels Command" Brian Jacques.

 

im reading Trade and Danger( first book in the Vatta's War series ) By Elizabeth Moon, she wrote a series called the Serrano Legacy which was most pleasurable to read. so far this new on is quite good as well.

 

Currently I'm reading The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, just finished reading Virtual Light by William Gibson.

 

Virtual Light...now there's a strange book. I read that for my year 11 final exams for 3u English (topic: dystopias), and it was completely whacked...

But relitively okay, I guess...

 

Virtual Light is a fantastic book. I haven't read Gibson's latest book, so I can't comment on it, but I've enjoyed them all to date.

I'm reading John Le Carre's "Absolute Friends".

E_S

 

I am reading Olive Weston: The heroic life of a World War II nurse by Peter Fenton.

 

Can i strongly suggest that people read timeline by michael Crichton before the awful film is released? Its one of my favourite all time books.

i also recommend Scarecrow by Mathew Reilly. while not QUITE as good as Area 7 or Ice Station, Shoefields third outing is well worth the read. Look for a scene between mother and scarecrow that stands out as one of Reillys best scenes in ANY of his books.

 

I've read Timeline before, great book!
I've finished Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy, it's good. I also got Scarecrow autographed my Matthew Reilly which is a treat as I got his previous books signed by him as well. Just finished Scarecrow which is a big step up from his previous books and I've just started Clive Cussler's Trojan Odyssey which is the latest in the Dirk Pitt series which is fantastic so far.

 

Just out of interest, does anyone else think "Dirk Pitt" is a bad name for a character?
Or is it just me?

For some reason, it just doesn't ... work.

 

I'm reading 'The Blue Nowhere' again by Jeffery Deaver. I love his books - he's an awesome writer.

Dirk Pitt? Sure wouldn't want to say that name too fast..

 

Dirk Pitt's been around for 20 years or so, starting with...Mayday, maybe? ?

Timeline's a good enough story, cute introduction to some quantum theory. If you're like me, you'll go and read some Feynmann after this, and get hopelessly lost...

And Matthew Riley. The Jerry Bruckheimer of books. Ladies and gents, if Tom Clancy's accuracy and character development is just too much for you, then settle for second best. If films like xXx are deep, thoughful thrillers to you, read Reilly.

Otherwise, avoid him like the plague he is.

And Tek, you know this comes from Schofeld wielding an IMI Desert Eagle .50, which no sane person would use.

E_S

 

who gives a damn about accuracy? In temple one of the characters causes a boat to fly up the wing of a plane and blow up a helicopter.

real?
no.

fun?
yeah man!



sides, Ender u like James Bond, so u cant talk about realism!

 

Cat_Orange: I like Jeffery Deaver as well, but I still think that 'The Devil's Teardrop' is one of his best. Actually...'The Blue Nowhere' is probably better, come to think of it...

 

The James Bonds books are better and more realistic than the films - even if they are meant to be parodies. (And for that matter, the original Bond movies are better and more realistic than the latter).

 

So what are you reading these days?

Posts on a SW message board.

I don't read much. I think the last book I read was LOTR, and that was about 2 1/2 years ago.

EDIT: I just remembered that the last thing I read was a book about script writing.

 

Sorry, Craig, but if I want to read stuff that's not challenging I'll read a magazine. Matthew Riley exists for those who've finished Harry Potter but don't want to progress onto something challenging, like the "Tomorrow" series by John Marsden.

Let's reiterate; Matthew Riley writes for the xXx crowd, and Tom Clancy > Matthew Riley.

I mean, if you want silly pseudo-military books, read Andy McNab. Even his "non-fiction" stuff, like Bravo Two-Zero, is devoid of all truth entirely.

E_S

 

Ive read John Marsdens Tomorrow series several times, (Hated the 7th book) and got the first book of "the Ellie Chrhonicles" in the first week of release. Ive also read Tom Clancy. i don't like his stuff. Anything with Jack Ryan Ill try if i can borrow it from somewhere, but thats largely due to my love of The Hunt For Red October. Is it realistic? Not to me, I dont know squat about military or political situations. Its as mucha fantasy as anything matthew Reilly writes. Is he 'better' than Reilly? Not at all.

The same way that Feist isnt better or worse than Tolkien in fantasy terms. I HATED LOTR and The Hobbit. I thought they were some of the most overrated, boring books I've read. I LOVED Magician and all the books that have followed in Feists series, with the exception of the second "Legend of the Riftwar" book. Now I could quite happily sit around saying Feist is the better writer, and in my mind it would be true. That said, Simon could come in and talk quite plainly about how he really dislikes Feists series, and profers Eddings or another authur (I vaguly remember Simon saying he didnt like the Riftwar books, but Ive forgotten the specifics).

So is he right? Am I? Are you right in saying Reillys books arent as good as Clancys? Am i right in saying i think they're better? Of course not!

What Im assuming you meant is 2 fold. YOU personally like Clancy, and dislike Reilly. Thats cool, your call entirely. More power to you. You also meant that Clacys work is more realistic, and accurate to real world scenarios. perhaps thats true. I wouldnt be surprised. This is also fine.
However neither of these facts proves Clancy is better. It just proves he suits you better.




Sorry, i went into rant mode. Its been one of those days. if i come off condecending or insulting, its purely accidental. i hope i made sense.

 

I like both Clancy and Reilly, and I have met Reilly in person twice and he's a great bloke, he's also a fellow SW fan.

Too be honest, I've never seen xXx so I have no idea what it is like.

On a side note, has anyone seen any of those Dinotopia series DvD's which is based on the books.If so what you thing of it and is it worth seeing?

 

It is obvious this contest will not be decided by your knowledge of books?but by your skills with a lightsaber!

 

You have the ring... and I see your Schwartz is as big as mine. Let's see how well you can handle it

 

Currently I'm reading my way through Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle. I'm up to book 3 - Arthur. Someone very kindly bought me book 2 & 3 for Christmas and I had book 4, so I went out and got the rest of the cycle and the postscript. SRL is my very favourite author. His books are the best I've ever read.

And I'm also part of the way through the 2004 Annual Phantom Special. I'm positivly tingling with exictment at the thought of reading the remaining stories in the comic. And what's even more exciting is that there's a new comic coming out on Friday Ahh life is good. Plus I have a whole other SRL trilogy to read when I'm finished the Pendragon Cycle

Recently I read While I Live, the new John Marsden book. Marsden is an excellent author, I've read most of his books, many of them I've read more than once, and I've even been to the writing course he runs at the Tye Estate, that was fantastic. I rather enjoyed it and look forward to more in the series.

Another great series I read fairly recently was Kate Forsyth's The Witches of Eileanan, six books in total of fantastic secondary world fantasy. Kate was the person who got me into fantasy in a big way. She is a great author and a lovely person, I owe a lot to her.

Oooh I love being able to talk about books, thanks so much for making this thread