bagger05 said:

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Just finished Brave New World.

"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery."

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I remember not really liking that book that much when I read it 25-30 years ago, but I probably was too young to appreciate it. What were the themes and underlying concepts behind that book? Was it like a warning of sorts, like in 1984? I feel like there was something like that, just can't remember much.

I've been thinking about rereading this, along with 1984 and Animal Farm, as well as a first read of Fahrenheit 451, so thanks for the inspiration.

Kaiser von Wilhelm said:

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bagger05 said:

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Just finished Brave New World.

"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery."

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I remember not really liking that book that much when I read it 25-30 years ago, but I probably was too young to appreciate it. What were the themes and underlying concepts behind that book? Was it like a warning of sorts, like in 1984? I feel like there was something like that, just can't remember much.

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Yeah a bit of a commentary on how abundance And advancement could lead to the downfall of society type thing.

Stick it out and the author speaks his mind very explicitly in the closing chapters.

I thought it was good. Glad I read it.

So, I finished up three stories in the Edgar Allen Poe collection: A Dream, Metzengerstein and The Duc De L'Omelette. I started a re-read of Artemis by Andy Weir.

Read American Dirt (Jeanine Cummins) by order of wife and daughter. I actually ended up liking it. Shame it caught so much sht by the woke crowd. But I suppose that's the norm now days. Also finished book 2 of Red Rising (Golden Son). Loved it as well. Just started book 3 (Morning Star) and book 4 of Murderbot Diaries (Exit Strategy).

- I finished up my re-read of the Narnia series this year.
- I finished Onyx Storm (my wife asked me to read this series…I enjoy it though)
- I just finished Sunrise on the Reaping and loved it. Now I'm re-reading the original Hunger Games trilogy

Dr. M - excited to read your review on COMC. Aside from the HP series, it's my favorite book

Finished my first Dresy file. I liked it alright but am not hooked. I'll probably mix them in - it was 8 hours, compared to the 52 hours of the Count of Monte Cristo, so maybe I'll get into them more as things progress. Or maybe I'll wiki books 2-5 and pick up book 6 at some point.

I always thought Brave New World hit closer to home in how control can be gained, but recent decades seem to be combining the best (worst) of both it and 1984.

I just finished my reread of Artemis by Wier and started Brave New World by Huxley.

The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. Loved this novel, character development and plot were fantastic.

Just finished The Handmaid's Tale.

Very unique storytelling. Thought it was good.

Finished Words of Radiance.

Now - Sunrise on the Reaping - Should be done in a couple weeks.

Next - Oathbringer - I will report when I finish...sometime in 2029.

Finally did it. Finally read The Stand.

It's definitely the best of King I have read so far. Just reaffirms that Cocaine King was Best King IMO.

Eliminatus said:

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Finally did it. Finally read The Stand.

It's definitely the best of King I have read so far. Just reaffirms that Cocaine King was Best King IMO.

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Sorry, spoilers ahead. Don't read if you don't want to have the story ruined for you! You've been warned!






Im about 1/3 of the way through, and good god that man can't help but be longwinded. Seriously, 3+ pages to discuss looking for a bike, finding the bike, fixing up the bike, walking the bike out of the garage, down the street, going to a store, getting a basket and horn, and finally...installing the basket and horn. I suppose that adds to the story somehow. Maybe the significance will come up later in the book...

I assume that the regular original version didnt include all the garbage that doesnt add anything to the story, but the extended version is filled with irrelevant crap that doesnt move the story along, but instead regularly slows it down to a sudden stop. I like to read before bed, and many nights ill literally read for 30-45 minutes and nothing of significance at all happened.

It's funny, I read Salem's lot right before this, and it didnt suffer from this at all. It flowed well and I blew through it in no time at all. I never felt like any of it didnt move the story forward, or frustrated and bored because entire nights of reading added nothing to the story. Almost feels like a completely different person wrote each of them.

Eliminatus said:

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Finally did it. Finally read The Stand.

It's definitely the best of King I have read so far. Just reaffirms that Cocaine King was Best King IMO.

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I don't think this is opinion; it's fact.

I know will not be a popular comment, but I struggled with the 4th Murderbot Novella (Exit Strategy). I really liked the first two, but the third started to feel repetitive, and the 4th proved to be extremely repetitive that brought nothing new. Don't think I can read anymore. But exited to watch the series. Love the whole concept so TV is probably the better format for me with it.

In contrast I started book 3 of Red Rising (Morning Star) and devouring it. If they nail the TV for this (like they did with the Dyne movies) it will be truly epic.

I dont know how they can do it; without AI

Looking for my next series ; I'm caught up on Red Rising and Dungeon Crawler Carl until the next books come out.

I've seen Dresden mentioned several times here; what's the general plot without spoilers?

It's either that or I start Warhammer that a friend recommended to me

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Looking for my next series ; I'm caught up on Red Rising and Dungeon Crawler Carl until the next books come out.

I've seen Dresden mentioned several times here; what's the general plot without spoilers?

It's either that or I start Warhammer that a friend recommended to me

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Dresden is a modern day Wizard P.I. in Chicago. It incorporates fantasy themes, creatures, myth, etc across the pantheon of that genre and religion. It's awesome.

Harry Dresden is one of the best characters out there.

I read my first Warhammer book last year and enjoyed it which was Eisenhorn. Not sure where to go next on that one. It's a daunting series.

I'm on book 7 of the Dresden files, but I'm not sure how to really describe the series. It kind of reminds me of James Bond (but he's a wizard not a spy) in that every book he's dealing with a new type of supernatural creature but there's something that's connecting it all. He's always finding himself in bad situations and it's trying to figure out how he's going to survive, just like Bond. I love the Bond movies and I'm really enjoying this book series.

Here are 3 that I've loved so far in 2025:
Outliers
Me, Myself, and Bob (the rise and fall of Veggietales)
The Name of the Wind

And here are 3 I disliked:
Wind and Truth (sue me)
Seasons in Hell (too depressing for this diehard Rangers fan)
Hyperion (um.. uhh.. not for me)

StinkyPinky said:

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I know will not be a popular comment, but I struggled with the 4th Murderbot Novella (Exit Strategy). I really liked the first two, but the third started to feel repetitive, and the 4th proved to be extremely repetitive that brought nothing new. Don't think I can read anymore. But exited to watch the series. Love the whole concept so TV is probably the better format for me with it.

In contrast I started book 3 of Red Rising (Morning Star) and devouring it. If they nail the TV for this (like they did with the Dune movies) it will be truly epic.

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SpreadsheetAg said:

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Looking for my next series ; I'm caught up on Red Rising and Dungeon Crawler Carl until the next books come out.

I've seen Dresden mentioned several times here; what's the general plot without spoilers?

It's either that or I start Warhammer that a friend recommended to me

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Have you read the Lock Lamore/Gentlemen Bstards series? If not this is your answer.

I haven't read them yet, but as far as sci fi similar to Red Rising many people rave about The Sun Eater series. Interested to hear what others here say about it.

Red Country by Joe Abercrombie. Definitely my least favorite of his works so far. Didn't love his attempt to mash the fantasy and western genres together. Really looking forward to hopefully reading his second trilogy though.

SpreadsheetAg said:

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I dont know how they can do it; without AI

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I agree, will be really tough (to do it right). Just looking around the internet at peoples attempt to render the characters falls well short of the imagery I have in my head. Again, would look bad ass if done right.

The Minotaur for example or Ragnar Valaris

This was a good AI art slideshow

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsewUkSpcJ3/?igsh=MWE2NGRvcm9tcTB1bw==

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8r2p8V6/

SpreadsheetAg said:

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The Minotaur for example or Ragnar Valaris

This was a good AI art slideshow

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsewUkSpcJ3/?igsh=MWE2NGRvcm9tcTB1bw==

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8r2p8V6/

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Ok, I had not seen that. That's awesome!

I thoroughly enjoyed Sun Eater. I'd recommend it if you liked Red Rising.

I was on vacation in Key West last week and stopped in a bookstore and picked up Stormy Weather by Carl Hiassen. I thoroughly enjoyed it and finished it in about 3 days, which is very rare for me to pick up a book and plow through it that quickly.

I had The Andromeda Strain downloaded on my Kindle and made it about 1/3 of the way through before I picked up Stormy Weather. Even when I read fiction, it feels like I am reading for some sort of school assignment and not just for pleasure. I really like Cricthon, but they are all heavy sci-fi, which makes it seem like I am learning something instead of just reading something for enjoyment.

Does anyone have a suggestion for my next Hiassen book? Looks like some of these are in a series, so I may pick up the first in the series of Stormy Weather. I am looking forward to reading more of his books.

KALALL said:

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I thoroughly enjoyed Sun Eater. I'd recommend it if you liked Red Rising.

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I have that on my must read list as well. I think someone told me if you like the game Destiny (I do) then you'll love Sun Eater.

I just finished Shift, the prequel to Wool (aka Silo). Really enjoyed learning how things came to be. Many secrets from Wool were revealed.

That said, the first half of the book was great, but I felt things bogged down a little in the middle and only slightly improved from there. Still a good read if you've read Wool. Planning to read the sequel next…

Kaiser von Wilhelm said:

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Eliminatus said:

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Finally did it. Finally read The Stand.

It's definitely the best of King I have read so far. Just reaffirms that Cocaine King was Best King IMO.

---

Sorry, spoilers ahead. Don't read if you don't want to have the story ruined for you! You've been warned!






Im about 1/3 of the way through, and good god that man can't help but be longwinded. Seriously, 3+ pages to discuss looking for a bike, finding the bike, fixing up the bike, walking the bike out of the garage, down the street, going to a store, getting a basket and horn, and finally...installing the basket and horn. I suppose that adds to the story somehow. Maybe the significance will come up later in the book...

I assume that the regular original version didnt include all the garbage that doesnt add anything to the story, but the extended version is filled with irrelevant crap that doesnt move the story along, but instead regularly slows it down to a sudden stop. I like to read before bed, and many nights ill literally read for 30-45 minutes and nothing of significance at all happened.

It's funny, I read Salem's lot right before this, and it didnt suffer from this at all. It flowed well and I blew through it in no time at all. I never felt like any of it didnt move the story forward, or frustrated and bored because entire nights of reading added nothing to the story. Almost feels like a completely different person wrote each of them.

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I read the full version too and I get ya. It got to a point I was able to sense when things starting to get a little too wordy and wasn't too important and was able to skim somewhat.

I was able to truck through The Stand but I think my patience for that kind of writing is null right now. I picked up my first Adrian Tchaikovsky "Alien Clay" and it leans in that direction as well. I am about a half hair from DNF'ing it honestly. Burnt out I think on that style. Need a quick a popcorn book to cleanse my palette I think.

I read The Stand when it was new. It was 800+ pages. I haven't read the extended 1,300 page book.

The original version was excellent. It would have been even better at 650 pages.

I just finished Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. It's a beautifully written book. Good plot. Loathsome protagonist.

Definitely deserves to be on any best of all time list.

Captain Winky said:

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I was on vacation in Key West last week and stopped in a bookstore and picked up Stormy Weather by Carl Hiassen. I thoroughly enjoyed it and finished it in about 3 days, which is very rare for me to pick up a book and plow through it that quickly.

I had The Andromeda Strain downloaded on my Kindle and made it about 1/3 of the way through before I picked up Stormy Weather. Even when I read fiction, it feels like I am reading for some sort of school assignment and not just for pleasure. I really like Cricthon, but they are all heavy sci-fi, which makes it seem like I am learning something instead of just reading something for enjoyment.

Does anyone have a suggestion for my next Hiassen book? Looks like some of these are in a series, so I may pick up the first in the series of Stormy Weather. I am looking forward to reading more of his books.

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A few weeks ago I read "Double Whammy" by Carl Hiassen. As I was reading it, I told myself multiple times "I'm really enjoying this." The plot was pretty average, the book was written a long time ago, but good writing is good writing, isn't it? Good characters, good dialogue, and zany situations. Bring it on.

I didn't know this was everyone's year to read "The Stand", but I'm one of those guys for another few weeks. 800 pages in to this 1300 page beast. I'm gonna read comics for the rest of the summer after I finish. It's good, but it's about 1,000 pages longer than I prefer.