Thanks for the rec! I already heard a lot abt the Millennium trilogy. will buy all three and start reading.
Born to Run Not in love with the writing style, but it's still pretty entertaining. There's definitely a lot of interesting stories and information for runners.
I just had to read Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" for a college course. I put it in the category of 5 worst books I have ever read. What a giant piece of crap
Agree that both series are highly entertaining and will keep you happy for a while if you're looking for a thriller fix. Unfortunately, I've read all of these so now I'm looking for something new in the same genre. Anyone got some recommendations? Wouldn't mind starting a new series if there is a good one out there.
A friend recommended The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. It's one of the first recommended books on Amazon if you liked Daemon. I haven't read it yet, but I plan to. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is supposed to be a cool thriller if you're okay with Stephenson. I loved the story of Cryptonomicon, but I had issues with his writing style. It's fantasy, but I quite enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora. It's the opening book of a seven book series (the third comes out in February), but the first book holds up just fine as a standalone novel. It's the story of Locke Lamora, the smart ass leader of a group of confidence game con men. I had a hard time putting this novel down.
I finished up Daemon and Freedom TM. At first I thought this was a giant 1000 page story split into two books due to size, but after finishing it all up there was a definite tone shift from the first book to second. Daemon was a fast-paced techno thriller with the titular Daemon seemingly bent on a anarchist corporate\government mission. I read that book in two sittings and eagerly moved onto the second book to encounter a very different story. This was The Matrix meets Omnivore's Dilemma meets World of Warcraft. That sounds weird, but I think that's pretty a pretty damn accurate assessment. Mild Spoilers Spoiler I thought it was a rather extreme shift to have Daemon building peaceful, environmental, locally-sustainable communes after it engaged in such a bloodbath in the first book. A couple of pages on corn theory and local crops were not what I expected out of this book. They're interesting subjects and important to our society, but I was a bit shocked to see them in a "thriller." The one character freed from prison (I'm drawing a blank on his name) was dropped completely after the first book. Everyone else was pretty well wrapped up, but this seemed a glaring hold. I liked the second book, but the change was definitely a bit jarring. Still, I finished the book and thought it all ended well. I was wondering how Suarez would wrap up the tale in 400 pages, but he closed almost all the plot threads including the ultimate thread of the Daemon itself. My Dad loved the Millenium Trilogy, and I was going to suggest these books after reading Daemon. However, after reading Freedom, I'm not going to. It's not that Freedom is bad book, but it's definitely not pure thriller. If you're okay with some heavy-handed philosophy with your action, you should definitely read this. My Dad's old school and would think the second book is about a bunch of God Damn hippy communes. I'm trying to figure out what to read next. Probably Joe Abercrombie, but I'm not sure. I've got next week off, so I want something that will be good leisure reading.
I've been listening to the audio book of The Lies of Locke Lamora for the past few nights. Enjoying it so far. I haven't tried audio books since junior high, so this is a bit of a new experience for me.
Glad you're liking Locke Lamora. The sequel is a bit slower, but I think it was setting up the rest of the series. I am buying Republic of Thieves (Book 3) the day its released in February. Lynch has posted almost 100 pages of the novel, and it's back to the fast-paced nature of the first book and the plot sounds mega ****ing cool. I haven't tried audio books. I work from home, so I don't have much driving time to engage in that. Who's voicing the book? I had recommended The Windup Girl the other day, and I just noticed that it got a nice write up and author interview on Pat's Fantasy Hotlist.
Just started reading Joe Abercrombie. I'm starting at the beginning with The Blade Itself. 100 pages in, and I see why people have raved about his work. Technically it's fantasy, but this isn't your normal swords and sorcery schlock. It's a gritty tale that seems more Renaissance era. I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into this series during my upcoming vacation week. Thanks, Xerobull, for recommending it. These books had been collecting dust on my bookshelves for too long.
In the thread about the newly discovered planet 20 light years away that's in the "sweet zone" for planets similar to Earth, and always faces the primary star, I posted about a SF series I really liked by Brian Aldiss. I'll just copy and paste it here. What I left out of that post is that the planet is being observed by scientists from Earth, who live and work in a huge space station in orbit. Highly recommended.
I read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" last week and "City of Glass" today both were for an english course, but I enjoyed them both, unlike that piece of crap "On the Road" that I had to read 2 weeks ago
I absolutely loved Lies of Locke Lamora. The sequel was definitely not as much fun as the 1st one. Still looking forward to the next one though. Read recently: 3rd book in the Wicked series about the cowardly lion. I'd rate it as Meh. Regarding Millenium trilogy, I'd say the 3rd book is only so-so. It goes into a lot of political related things about Sweden which I know nothing of (nor care about). Since it's a work of fiction, I can't even tell how much of it is true, or if it's based off of an event, or just completely made up. Generally speaking, not a whole lot happens in the book, as Salander is pretty much in a hospital for the whole book. I'd rate the series as 1st > 2nd > 3rd. Read the Mistborn trilogy(Fantasy) recently by Brandon Sanderson. Enjoyed it quite a bit.
Red Seas under Red Skies was definitely a lot slower-paced than Lies of Locke Lamora. I was okay with that because I feel Lynch was setting up the rest of the series with that second book. The third book, Republic of Thieves, sounds amazing. Sabetha and Locke in a battle of cunning and wits between two factions of mages. It's released on Feb 22, 2011. Lynch has released almost 60 pages of excerpts. Locke first meeting Sabetha Jean attempting to get a doctor for Locke While we're talking fantasy, I have to rave about Joe Abercrombie and his amazing First Law trilogy. I finished up The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged while on vacation last week, and I'm a good way into The Last Argument of Kings. It's darkly humorous, bloody, and with well-defined yet vicious characters.
I am almost finished with Adam Hochschild's superb history of colonial Congo, King Leopold's Ghost. This is, quite frankly, one of the most disturbing bits of history I have ever read. The characters range from heroic to the most depraved monsters you can imagine. Leopold II reminds me very much of Himmler actually, although Hochschild never directly compares Leopold to any of the Nazi regime's primary members. He does, however, directly compare the Nazi machine with the Congo system repeatedly and with great effect. He also is careful to note the very real inspirations for Joseph Conrad's Kurtz - there were many, and Conrad did not exaggerate much at all. A ghastly but important read. All the white-washing (no pun intended) in the history books you read as a child are undone. The gross hypocrisy of the European colonial mindset is undeniably evident as the colonizers blatantly extort, murder, enslave, and destroy with the utmost barbarity - all under the guise of culturing the African "barbarian".
I thoroughly enjoyed Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy. It's perhaps a stock plot line. Barbarian and swordsman join a wizard to save the world from another evil wizard, but the formulaic nature ends right there. Abercrombie at first blush might look to be using stock characters, but he develops them with rich personalites which include a number of rough and flawed characteristics. The writing itself is brusque and coarse, at time vulgar, and the fight scenes do not shy away from blood and gore. It was all in all quite refreshing. The story itself went in a few directions I did not expect, and I read them quite quickly, not wanting to put them down. I was maybe a bit disappointed by the end. Mild & General Spoilers Spoiler In some ways I felt like it left itself open for a sequel (the second sequel comes out in February). Judging from the rest of the trilogy, I shouldn't have been that surprised. I certainly wasn't expecting a happily ever after ending for these characters, but leaving things hanging was a bit annoying. Still for people who enjoy fantasy and want something different, Joe Abercrombie is definitely one of the rock stars of the new fantasy author movement. And after reading his first three books, I have to say he rightfully belongs on that list. I'm reading Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie next. It takes place after the events of the trilogy in a different kingdom. I'm about 300 pages into it, and so far a number of secondary characters from the trilogy have shown up in one form or another. It also references some events from the trilogy. I would definitely recommend reading them in order if you want to tackle Abercrombie.
A great writer, local proffessor, and close friend of mine, Bruce Machart's debut novel comes out Thursday on 10/21. It was selected to be in Barnes & Noble's "First Look Book Club" and has receive rave reviews so far. I have not gotten an advance copy, but I've read Bruce's other works and he's an outstanding writer... and UH grad. The novel is set in the Czech dominated part of Texas in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Hannah Tinti, author of "The Good Thief" did a "Guest Review" for Amazon.com: "This is the gritty world of horses and men, of fathers and sons. Bruce Machart writes with a richness that completely unfolds time and place, leaving behind its own beautiful wake of remembrance, inheritance, and the unbreakable bonds of family." Please give it a look. I assure you it'll be worth your time: http://www.amazon.com/Wake-Forgiveness-Bruce-Machart/dp/0151014434
