What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

A place for anything *not* Donaldson.

Moderator: I'm Murrin

User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 24395
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 44 times

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Fist and Faith »

Avatar wrote: I highly recommend them if you can find them. (Might be easy nowadays.)
It's on Kindle and Nook, so yes, easy. But $9.49. That seems odd.
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 61952
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Avatar »

Is that expensive? :D (Or are they expensive considering they're old?)
peter wrote: Have you read R A Salvatore's Drizzt Do'Urden novels Av? I reckon those were amongst the best Forgotten Realms novels (Dragonlance was Forgotten Realms wasn't it?)
It wasn't, but yes I've read a few. Never really got into them for some reason, not sure why.

Nearing the end of book 2 now, which contains a very Vain-like character, "Orhung The Created" and given it was written a few years after TWL, I wonder if Vain was an inspiration.

Anyway, book 3 next, The King of Light & Shadows.

--A
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 24395
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 44 times

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Fist and Faith »

Avatar wrote: Is that expensive? :D (Or are they expensive considering they're old?)
They're old, and who but you ever heard of them?
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 61952
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Avatar »

Fist and Faith wrote:
Avatar wrote: Is that expensive? :D (Or are they expensive considering they're old?)
They're old, and who but you ever heard of them?
According to the cover of Bk3 which I'm busy with, Roger Zelazny called them "Remarkable" and said the author had a "magic touch." :P

--A
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 24395
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 44 times

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Fist and Faith »

Fair enough.

I happen to have a good B&N gift card balance at three moment, so I got the first one. But I have so many tbr, and reading hasn't been happening lately. We'll see.
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 61952
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Avatar »

Fist and Faith wrote: Fair enough.

I happen to have a good B&N gift card balance at three moment, so I got the first one. But I have so many tbr, and reading hasn't been happening lately. We'll see.
Ha, awesome. :D I have never known anybody else who has read even one of them. :D

They're not hard reads...the first book particularly is almost stand-alone, and I've found they veritably race along compared to the pace of stuff like Malazan or even other modern series.

I look forward to hearing what you think.

--A
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 61952
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Avatar »

On the last book now, The Gods In Anger which I only managed to find by complete accident, after physically bumping into the guy running a second-hand book stall at a flea market.

Amidst apologies, he asked me if I had found anything, whereupon I asked if what was displayed was the only fantasy / sci-fi he had. Looking around the tables, he dove beneath one of them to pull out a hitherto unseen crate, in which was the last volume of a series I had been trying to complete for nearly 20 years. :D

--A
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 24395
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 44 times

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Fist and Faith »

Good story! Literally bumping into the guy, who is probably the only person on the continent who happens to have the book.
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 61952
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Avatar »

To this day I shake my head whenever I think of the pure, random serendipity of it. :D

(I would claim this is also why I can never pass a 2nd hand book shop without going in, but I was that way long before this occurrence. :D )

--A
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 24395
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 44 times

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Fist and Faith »

Morpheus:
All of our lives, we have fought this war. Tonight I believe we can end it. Tonight is not an accident. There are no accidents. We have not come here by chance. I do not believe in chance. When I see three objectives, three captains, three ships. I do not see coincidence, I see providence. I see purpose. I believe it our fate to be here. It is our destiny. I believe this night holds for each and every one of us, the very meaning of our lives.
Nah, i don't believe it. But cool quote. :D
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon
User avatar
Cord Hurn
Servant of the Band
Posts: 7765
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 7:08 pm
Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 5 times

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Cord Hurn »

I am now doing a second read of Stephen R. Donaldson's The Killing God.
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 61952
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Avatar »

Sheesh, I haven't even read it once. :D

I'm re-reading the Illuminatus! trilogy by R.A Wilson and Robert Shea.

It's @JemCheeta2's fault.

--A
User avatar
peter
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 11923
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:08 am
Location: Another time. Another place.
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 9 times

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by peter »

Cord Hurn wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2024 1:22 am I am now doing a second read of Stephen R. Donaldson's The Killing God.
Tried recently to read the series and got half way into the second book. I realised at that point I simply didn't like it and gave up. My mistake probably. The same has happened with the space opera series that everyone else seems to love and also the mirror of her dreams thing.

In fact, only the Chrons (1 and 2) (and a few short stories, I suppose) have actually done it for me. But those have been amongst the best reading in a lifetime spent in the pursuit, and I wouldn't loose that for the world. Every artist has a high point, and for me, these were Donaldson's.

I've just finished Eragon, the first of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle. Not a bad little book; easy and entertaining without being too taxing.
It takes a particular kind of arrogance to think you know what's best for millions of your countrymen. Anyone with any kind of political ambition should be immediately sent of to tend for pigs, or pick cauliflower by hand, in order that they have time to meditate on this and learn some humility.

It took around 7000 years for us to get from the stone age to where we are today. By current estimates it will take us around 73 minutes to get back there again.

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard
User avatar
Menolly
A Lowly Harper
Posts: 24120
Joined: Thu May 19, 2005 12:29 am
Location: Harper Hall, Fort Hold, Northern Continent, Pern...
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 9 times
Contact:

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Menolly »

peter wrote: I’ve just finished Eragon, the first of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle. Not a bad little book; easy and entertaining without being too taxing.
I enjoyed the Inheritance Cycle when I read it. However, that was before I had ever played tabletop role playing games. Since then, I understand how much of Paolini’s world building relies on the typical outlines in DnD and other such games. There’s nothing wrong with that, I just find it distracting whenever I attempt to do a reread.
Image
User avatar
peter
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 11923
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:08 am
Location: Another time. Another place.
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 9 times

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by peter »

Very interesting observation Menolly (which I've just spotted - sorry about that! :D )

I've just finished Eldest (the second book in the series) and have been playing Baldur's Gate 3, which is as close to D&D as you can get on a consul. (I haven't actually played any table top games, but this consul game does come, I'm told, pretty close.)

I shall look for comparisons as I go forward with the books and do a little retrospective thinking on it in terms of what I've read already. (I'm already seeing what you mean with the final battle of Eldest.)

P.s. I hope Eragon and Araya have a future together. Don't tell me, but I'm just an old romantic at heart I guess. ;)
It takes a particular kind of arrogance to think you know what's best for millions of your countrymen. Anyone with any kind of political ambition should be immediately sent of to tend for pigs, or pick cauliflower by hand, in order that they have time to meditate on this and learn some humility.

It took around 7000 years for us to get from the stone age to where we are today. By current estimates it will take us around 73 minutes to get back there again.

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 61952
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Avatar »

Avatar wrote: Sheesh, I haven't even read it once. :D

I'm re-reading the Illuminatus! trilogy by R.A Wilson and Robert Shea.
Sheesh, over a month later and I haven't made much progress...it wasn't grabbing me from the start, so I started doing anything I could think of except read, but I picked up again last night and may be feeling it a bit more...

--A
User avatar
Zarathustra
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 19721
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:23 am
Been thanked: 1 time

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by Zarathustra »

Avatar wrote:
Avatar wrote: Sheesh, I haven't even read it once. :D

I'm re-reading the Illuminatus! trilogy by R.A Wilson and Robert Shea.
Sheesh, over a month later and I haven't made much progress...it wasn't grabbing me from the start, so I started doing anything I could think of except read, but I picked up again last night and may be feeling it a bit more...

--A
It's been more than two decades since I've read that one. I noticed coincidences everywhere when I read it. But it's probably just a coincidence. 8)
Success will be my revenge -- DJT
Post Reply

Return to “General Fantasy/Sci-Fi Discussion”