Yearly Targets (2017) - Totals and Specifics

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MSJ

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« Reply #15 on: January 16, 2017, 11:22:23 pm »
Man, I've started a couple series, but today while searching for stuff to read, I come across Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Its Sci-fi, but all reviews say it read as if it's a fantasy. And, I've seen nothing but good reviews on it. Supposed to be a real page burner. I think that's what I'm going with next.

Redeagl, we need to PM or what have you and work out details on a reread, see if anyone else is interested. We don't have to go super fast, but I wanna get through it. So, give me a holler and spread the word on Facebook or wherever else you like. We can start a thread, "Slog 2.0". And, maybe get some good discussion and others to jump in.

ETA: SR, so you know, you have me the same reading list as Diurnal. I never have a plan on what I'm gonna read, I just read whatever feels right at the moment. Though you got my total right, 3. Off, to a good start.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2017, 11:24:16 pm by MSJ »
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

H

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« Reply #16 on: January 17, 2017, 12:30:57 pm »
Several JSAC readers here. Good space opera?

Good?  Sure.  Entertaining to a certain extent, but certainly short of great.  I kind of feel the series is a bit repetitive, but I'm interested enough in where it is all going to keep reading.  I like that it is what I would call "realistic" sci/fi, in that most of the stuff seems like shit people would actually do if they had the technology/whatever.

I don't know I'd add it to a "Must Read" list, but it's definitely a reasonable option.
I am a warrior of ages, Anasurimbor. . . ages. I have dipped my nimil in a thousand hearts. I have ridden both against and for the No-God in the great wars that authored this wilderness. I have scaled the ramparts of great Golgotterath, watched the hearts of High Kings break for fury. -Cet'ingira

Garet Jax

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« Reply #17 on: January 23, 2017, 04:34:19 pm »
Finished Abaddon's Gate.  Not sure what it is about the writing, but these novels are real page turners for me.  Maybe it is just the change of pace?  Either way, another solid entry by the duo.

MSJ

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« Reply #18 on: January 26, 2017, 03:03:18 am »
Finished Red Rising , by Pierce Brown (4). Awesome book and it really does have a fantasy feel. Onto Golden Son , next book in the series. I highly, highly recommend this, and every review I've read says that each book is better and builds upon the last.
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

MSJ

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« Reply #19 on: January 29, 2017, 06:12:19 pm »
Finished Golden Son, by Pierce Brown 2nd in the trilogy. Solid, solid books. Sci-fi was never a genre I explored til you damn larks made me read Dune. I really like this series, i see how the two genres are so closely connected and what separates the two. Future, high-tech and the likes, still in my mind it's a fantasy. Same tropes and all. If you haven't read it, do so, it's a bage-purer and very, very interesting with twists at every turn. (5)
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

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« Reply #20 on: February 02, 2017, 01:58:18 pm »
Just finished Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey.  The book was fine, but like I said, I do find the series a bit repetitive in the grand scope of things. 
I am a warrior of ages, Anasurimbor. . . ages. I have dipped my nimil in a thousand hearts. I have ridden both against and for the No-God in the great wars that authored this wilderness. I have scaled the ramparts of great Golgotterath, watched the hearts of High Kings break for fury. -Cet'ingira

MSJ

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« Reply #21 on: February 02, 2017, 03:12:50 pm »
Just finished Morning Star, by Pierce Brown (6). Last book in the trilogy. Pretty good series. Going to start The Red Knight, by Miles Cameron.
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

Alia

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« Reply #22 on: February 14, 2017, 12:47:34 pm »
Finished Brunner's Shockwave Rider (book 2 of this year). Overall yet another futuristic dystopia set in the US, but this time less complicated than Stand on Zanzibar or Sheep Look Up, with a much more limited cast of characters (so easier to follow) and overall a little more optimistic. Could make a good introduction to Brunner, I guess.

And now for something completely different - I started reading Lou Reed's biography by Howard Sounes. Not something I would normally buy but I saw it on my friend's bookshelf, she said she won it in some kind of raffle and I could borrow it. So far it seems OK, without looking for cheap sensation and at the same time without treating Reed as someone perfect.
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

MSJ

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« Reply #23 on: February 21, 2017, 08:52:11 pm »
I am currently reading Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft. He is a self published that I have heard nothing but rave reviews about. But, has seemed to take the ruthless industry of self publishing by the balls. It's a story of a man who take his new wedded wife to the famed Tower of Babel. Very, very interesting and I have trouble putting the book down at night. I recommend it to anyone who likes an adventure. The Arms of the Sphinx is the sequel and 2nd installment of a trilogy. Try it out, a fresh breath from the run of the mill fantasy so many of us are used to.
« Last Edit: February 21, 2017, 09:07:08 pm by MSJ »
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

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« Reply #24 on: February 23, 2017, 07:58:45 pm »
Just wrapped up Homo Deus, by Yuval Noah Harari.

You can find Bakker's review of the book to which I don't know I can really add much.
I am a warrior of ages, Anasurimbor. . . ages. I have dipped my nimil in a thousand hearts. I have ridden both against and for the No-God in the great wars that authored this wilderness. I have scaled the ramparts of great Golgotterath, watched the hearts of High Kings break for fury. -Cet'ingira

Alia

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« Reply #25 on: February 24, 2017, 11:44:26 am »
Finished reading Lou Reed's biography (book 3 of the year), which was quite interesting - but Polish edition sucked on so many levels that sometimes I wanted to throw it out of the window (but it was borrowed). And now, to have a break from Brunner, I'm reading The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis. Alternative history/steampunk, seems interesting so far but I'm only a few chapters into it.
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

Wilshire

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« Reply #26 on: February 24, 2017, 02:26:55 pm »
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Although, I'm slightly confused, see this entry from wikipedia
Quote
[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep] has been released in audiobook form at least twice. A version was released in 1994 that featured Matthew Modine and Calista Flockhart.

A new audiobook version was released in 2007 by Random House Audio to coincide with the release of Blade Runner: The Final Cut. This version, read by Scott Brick, is unabridged and runs approximately 9.5 hours over eight CDs. This version is a tie-in, using the Blade Runner: The Final Cut film poster and Blade Runner title

I listened to the later version read by Scott Brick, so I'm not entirely sure if this is 100% same book or not.
Either way, its been read, so I'm counting it. I'll have took look at my hardcopy of it once I unpack my library from its moving boxes.

2
« Last Edit: March 20, 2017, 04:44:29 pm by Wilshire »
One of the other conditions of possibility.

MSJ

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« Reply #27 on: February 24, 2017, 09:40:13 pm »
3/4's through Senlin Ascends, by Josiah Bancroft. Excellent, excellent book. Something very different than your run of the mill fantasy. I find I can't put the book down and how the Tower of Babel is a character unto itself adds a lot of intrigue. It's a tale, so far, of a school teacher finding out who is is after losing his wife to the Tower. Plenty of fantasy elements, but not the usual fare of sword and sorcery. I think it be a breath of fresh air for any avid fantasy reader.

What makes this such a good book is that each level of the Tower, you could write a entire book of  each alone. This is Bancroft's first  novel and is very well writing, with a great pace. And, all I've read on  Arms of the Sphinx the sequel, is that his writing and the story itself only gets betterms.

By the by, Mark Lawrence has a new trilogy coming out with Red Sister being the first of a trilogy. Read the blurbs, looks very interesting and is in a different world than his other two trilogies.
« Last Edit: February 25, 2017, 05:28:58 pm by MSJ »
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

MSJ

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« Reply #28 on: March 01, 2017, 08:41:03 am »
Finished  Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft(7). I highly recommend this to anyone looking for something out of the ordinary in the fantasy genre. Great book, getting ready to start the 2nd in the trilogy, Arm of the Sphinx.
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

SilentRoamer

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« Reply #29 on: March 13, 2017, 11:18:27 am »
Hey guys,

Hope you are all enjoying your reads so far. I will update the thread this evening.

For my part my mum took another turn for the worst so been struggling to find reading time between hospital visits.

Currently halfway through Abercrombies Best Served Cold (Really enjoying) and also reading Dawkins The God Delusion.

Hopeful to finish at least one before the end of this week.