• General

  • What have you read recently?

Dark matter was good but could have been so much better if it hadn’t been contorted into a sappy love story (you can practicaly hear the author yelling ‘hello movie producers!’) and actually explored the ability to traverse the multiverse in a bit more detail. 7 multiverse travelling cubes / 10

Read books 1 to 4 of the murderbot diaries. Entertaining enough but nothing special. Nae idea why it’s as successful as it is. The author consistently misses the rich potential of the wider implications of the set up (slavery, classism, definition of humanity etc) to just have a misanthrope robot that likes to watch tv instead. 7 episodes of Santuary Moon / 10.

    Wally I’ve got the Murderbot Diaries in my TBR stack. Have read the first a few years ago, but will reread it to refresh my memory. They’re short, so no big whoop.

        JonQPublik yeah, read all four in a week or so. 1 & 4 are the best ones. Hoping 5&6, the full novels are better but am taking a break from them to read something else for now.

          21 days later

          First Blood. Again. I like the first Rambo-movie, but it really doesn’t do the book justice. Then again Rambo killing 13 cops might not have been filmable in 1980.

          • Dan replied to this.

            Homegrove The irony with those films by Sly is that he weaselled out of the draft due to a student deferment and later a medical deferment.

              Currently reading ’Death’s end’ by Cixin Liu which is also very good so far. The last of the three body problem trilogy.

              Not sure what’s next - ‘A memory called empire’ by Arkady Martine probably - one of this year’s HUGO nominees.

                Am currently reading Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.

                Obviously resonates with the super athletes like me.

                  Just started reading The secret Dj then onto The school of Life by Alain De Botton

                  Wally Death’s End was bizarre. Left me with weird questions.

                  A Memory Called Empire was ok iirc. It didn’t bore me completely.

                  Currently trudging through A Declaration of The Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry. IDK, this brand of historical fantasy just isn’t hitting the right buttons. Though I do think the story would be better serviced visually.

                  Finished the Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation series from Vaseem Khan. Indian crime fiction? Yep. Enjoyable enough the whole series even if a bit ‘cute’ occasionally, but book 5 was snoozy.

                  Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was… fine. But not a good kind of fine. As a plus, it wasn’t predictable– yet the gothicness was nothing new; the reveal however, was just <wth?!>.

                  Also occasionally reading a book in the Donovan series by W. Michael Gear. It’s generally a strange blend of familiar things… 80s flicks like Commando and Predator, some of those spaghetti westerns and pioneer films of the 70s. Super macho, but there’s also a strong feminist vein running throughout. Or maybe it’s solely an excess of confidence. Pulpy, but different.

                    Finally finished up All The Pieces Matter, think it was Jonatton who recommended it in the old board. Loved it. Picked up The Soprano Sessions for a follow up.

                    Ready Player One (Ernest Cline): Really regret seeing the film first as I would have loved this book and its references to the 80’s and gaming.

                      My TBR stack is out of control. Still waiting for the most recent Jasper Fforde book, Brandon Sanderson’s 4th Stormlight Archive book, and the conclusion to R.F. Huang’s Poppy War trilogy.

                      You’ll carve through those murderbot ones in a few days.

                        Wasily Second book is out in about a months time.

                          Wasily loved the book, haven’t seen the film yet…. lots of old skool computer game geekery

                            Wally Murderbots are next. The number of books I’ve read this year is woeful compared to the previous two years.

                              14 days later

                              Just about to get into the new Jasper Fford one.