SeanBookworms of Lemmy, what are you currently reading?
IronRainCurrently on chapter 85 of Pierce Brown’s Light Bringer, the latest installment of the Red Rising series! Granted, I’m listening to the audiobook, but audiobooks are still books. And man, like the rest of the series, I can’t put this shit down!
After this? Not sure yet. Still waiting on Sanderson’s next book in his Stormlight Archive series. Maybe I’ll re-listen to The Wheel of Time again while the final books of these two series wrap up.
Had to look this up because I thought the Lightbringer was Brent Weeks. Totally different series. I’ll check it out.
I just finished a listen of The Wheel of Time myself. I listened to it while falling asleep. Took about 2 years to get through it that way. I already know the story, and parts of it were fairly easy to fall asleep to makes it a perfect way to deal with insomnia.
Also waiting for the next Sanderson book. Just finished The Lost Metal! So many cosmere tie-ins!
I’m listening to Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb to fall asleep to now as I’ve read the series before, and reading Ghost Brigade which is book 2 of Old Man’s War.
@Albbi @IronRain found out about Wheel of Time from Tumblr of all places. Started the audiobook series as something to accompany me on long drives or workouts but they keep being checked out at my library app lol. Was interesting to me that you could tell it was written a few decades ago - some of the writing seems a bit dated even though altogether it's a very well-structured series.
Also absolutely loved Red Rising, didn't realize there was a new addition!
I just downloaded the Red Rising series today, and it’s either that or the last 5 books in the Drizzt series (fantasy, R. a. Salvatore) for my next read. I just finished The Wool Trilogy (Silo on Apple+) and The Expanse (Sci-Fi and Amazon). Those two were pretty good.
The Wheel of Time is on my read list, I downloaded the complete edition recently. But, that’s a lot to start.
I finished The Expanse awhile back and that was also fantastic!
A bit of personal advice for TWOT - the first time reading can be considered slow by some, but the opening acts are some of my favorites of all fantasy novels that I’ve read. There’s a certain charm that’s reminiscent of Tolkien, and has a certain depiction that’s speaks to me. But maybe it requires a second reading to really appreciate it.
Either way, happy reading!
Nothing wrong with audiobooks! It’s my preferred way to consume my books. Also if I didn’t listen to audiobooks, then I would never have experienced TGR’s glorious performance in the Red Rising series. I don’t think audiobooks are better for every book, but in the case of Red Rising, I would argue it’s mandatory.
I just finished Lightbringer myself and I absolutely loved it. I’m equally devastated knowing how long it’ll be before we get the next one!
Absolutely agreed about TGR’s amazing talent! He colored - no pun intended - the Red Rising books in such an immersive way, that I can’t imagine the characters and atmosphere as anything other than what his vocal descriptions provided.
And I’m not 100% certain, but I think he mentioned on one of the Red Rising podcasts that the last book should come within a few months of this one, because they were meant to be one final book, but the length didn’t allow his original plans. I certainly hope that’s true!
BlazeAlso, promotion for [email protected] and literature.cafe !
gabe [he/him]Just finished a book from the 1930s by a Czech author Karel Čapek called War with the Newts.
It’s sci-fi based on earth in 1930s but what I found the most interesting is
seeing an author from 1930s write and think on paper (casual racism and sexism, for example),
the echoes of the looming WWII
the retro futurism - I love seeing what people from the past imagined would happen with technology. They are often right, often cutely wrong.
DmianOh! Never read anything from Čapek. Thanks for bringing him to my attention!
VuipesTIL: His brother invented the word “robot”, which Karel Čapek used in the book R.U.R.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_%C4%8Capek#Etymology_of_robot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_%C4%8Capek#Etymology_of_robot
John Brunner’s ‘Stand On Zanzibar’ won the Hugo in 969 for its depiction of the early 21st Century. Amazing how much he got right.
PseudoSpockMy 6 favorite authors either haven’t published in a long time, or they’ve begun publishing early works that weren’t good enough to get published when they started out. 2 of my other favs have died. This has pushed me out of my comfort zone and delved into Steven Fry’s Mythos series… and I rather like it. Oh, and if anyone sees Patrick Rothfuss around, please smack him upside the back of his head.
Stephen Fry’s voice acting on the audio book of Mythos is phenomenal as well
Tanith Lee. ‘Night’s Master.’ A Demon Prince spends his nights tormenting and/or seducing humanity,
HousePantherI’ve just started Musashi, a Samurai-era historical fiction novel.
I loved Shogun by Clavell and I always get recommended Musashi as being a similar vibe. I’ll have to pick it up sometime
Me too! Musashi is very similar.
I only do about one or two books a month, but right now I’m hooked on Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
Raisin8659Seveneves
Sounds exciting! Thx.
A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.
I didn’t give a description of the plot because I couldn’t come up with something that really conveyed what the book was like. The one you gave is decent, but it doesn’t convey just how much of it is about the people. It’s hard scifi, no nonsense, but the heart and soul of it is its characters.
I only like sci-fi that isn’t toooo sci-fi-y so this sounds right up my street
Huge Stephenson fan.
I want ‘Reamde’ as a Netflix series.
jballsJust finished Reamde recently. Anyone know if the sequel, Fall, is worth reading?
It’s not a sequel; it’s a stand alone using one character. It reads like two novels jammed together. One is about a massive ‘fake news’ story that lives on decades after it’s debunked, and the other is about a computer simulation/afterlife. Not his best, imho.
Seveneves is good, Anathem is my favourite by him.
JesterRaiin- 4 Noble Truths.
So far, I get the impression that it’s a phiosophical treatise discussing the suffering in life and the inevitability of it. I’m not sure when I’m going to end, because I don’t approach philosophical texts sober and my stash of beer has ended abruptly.
- The Way it went down volume 2
An anthology of stories relevanat to Delta Green role-playing game. It’s one of those rare cases when a RPG-inspired material doesn’t suck. The stories are usually very short, horror, borderline Lovecraftian. Some are quite disturbing to read.
GreyShuck- Finnegans Wake - my ‘big read’ which I am doing over the year along with a group over on reddit: one of the only things that still has me dipping into reddit now. Fascinatingly incomprehensible.
- Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time - some good thoughtful worldbuilding and a solid story.
- Robert Brightwell’s Flashman’s Waterloo - one of his series of Flashman prequels featuring the uncle of George MacDonald Fraser’s protagonist. Very well researched and entertaining
- A collection of Neil Munro’s Para Handy tales - gentle humour and a glimpse of a very different world - albeit rather stereotypical and patronising in some ways.
all-knight-partySince Reddit went, I actually have returned to books for my reading material, which had been replaced basically by massive ask reddit threads. As a result I'm trying to read some things I shouldve a long time ago.
Just finished the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I'm on to the second book in the series. It was as good as its legacy lead me to believe!
One more hoopy frood who knows where their towel is!
A classic, been meaning to get back to it myself!
Its amazing how fast the five book trilogy goes by once you’re in it. Its almost time for me to re-read the series again. Glad you’re started on your strange, comedic journey through the galaxy!
I don’t consider myself a bookworm, but I recently read:
- Japan Sinks by Sakyo Komatsu
- All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka (the novel, not the manga)
- Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
And now I’m reading The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.
Yes, I like Science Fiction XDDD
I liked ‘Rama’ and ‘The Moon.’ It’s a little funny rereading ‘Moon…’ because so much of the tech is dated. Also, it was apprently written in a time before prison gangs became as powerful as they are now.
Thoughts?
Some of Heinlein’s ideas are interesting, but most are simply outdated. I don’t identify at all with his anarcho-capitalist ideas (to me, it reads as “I don’t want to pay taxes”, and extremely individualistic views of society), but I like how he explores the situation of the lack of women, what AI could be, and the gravitational advantage the moon has. His prose is good, so it invites to keep reading. An interesting author, indeed.
My favorite Heinlein government is from ‘Double Star.’ Instead of voting based on where you live, you can choose how you identify. You can be a ‘Green,’ or a ‘Gamer’ or a ‘Gun Owner’ or ‘College Educated Single Female,’ or whatever. He doesn’t give a lot of exact details but it’s a fun idea to play around with.
Also, if you like fantasy, try ‘Glory Road.’ He takes all the usual tropes and kicks them to the curb.
Dr. BobI recently read Rama for the first time and it honestly just seemed…dumb. a nice piece of imagination but the relationships and motivations just didn’t seem real. Lime why smuggle a skybike on board when it’s expensive and fragile and there was no expectation of being able to ride it? It was a little Deus ex machina for my tastes.
Oof, I re-read it in the last few weeks and it was fine, pretty dry but still. The second book felt terrible. His writing of female characters sucked and the focus on sex and sexualizing women irked me. It felt wrong. So, I gave up and finished The Expanse instead. Win in my book.
The Last Ringbearer by Kirill Eskov
Currently reading “The Last Watch” because I wanted some fun sci-fi, but the liberties the author is taking on physics and the universe makes it very hard to suspend my disbelief.
Looking at starting a re-read of “All Systems Red” in anticipation of the new Murderbot book coming out. I can’t recommend this series enough
rephlekt2718I’ve only heard fantastic things about murderbot, will definitely read it once I get the chance
spittingimageMurderbot is my competence porn. It’s a series about smart people doing smart things under pressure. I love that.
Currently reading Red Rising. Awesome book, when I start reading it’s very hard to stop.
pgetsosAfter a long time of no reading, I started reading on the beach The Handbook of Epictetus. I bought it thanks to the recommendation of PewDiePie of all people in the video he did after losing the first spot in YouTube rankings
BallShapedManBeyond Command and Control by John Seddon, my second time though and a good book about systems and how systems dictate human behavior and how to alter them instead of beating people up to get results.
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, a series of short stories. I’m on the third story in the book now and I’ve loved each one of them. Compelling hook, well written. They have all gotten me obsessively thinking about the world he’s created.
donut4everWhy we are polarized - Ezra Klein
Wouldn’t consider myself a bookworm but
Finished recently:
- Handmaid’s tale
- the eerie silence (the german one from Harald Lesch)
- Jesus Video
Reading currently:
- One trillion dollar
And I think the next one is gona be Sci-Fi. Maybe I will check out The Wandering Earth from Liu Cixin. But I am open for recommendations.
If you liked ‘Handmaiden’ look up ‘Walk To The End of the World’ by Suzy McKee Charnas.
I started reading the Wool series after recently watching the Silo TV show. Pretty good so far, the world building is surprisingly fun.
Call me Lenny/LeniOne of the Wheel of Time books.
Quazatron“Mythos - The Greek Myths Retold” by Stephen Fry (Penguin Books).
A funny and entertaining way to learn about Greek mythology through the wit of Stephen Fry.
I highly recommend it.
Neil Gaiman did Norse Mythology. Makes a nice follow up.
Also, have you noticed that ever since ‘Circe,’ it seems like there’s been a spate of Greek myths reimagined?
I’ve also read Norse Mythology, I’ve read most of what Neil Gaiman published.
If you like Gaiman, try Tanith Lee. Start with ‘Night’s Master,’ the story of a demon prince who toys with humanity every night.
I’m just working on American Gods now.
Currently getting back into the Redwall series after enjoying them as a kid (British cottage-core fantasy with woodland critter characters). Currently reading the Rogue Crew, where the hares of the Long Patrol team up with the Sea Otters of the titular crew to fend off the forces of the pirate Razzid Wearat.
pacogensChildren of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky
one of the greatest new books I’ve read. fantastic.
I freaking loved this book. The epic time scales were just sooo good. The sequel is solid too!