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Old 6th March 2007, 18:31     #161
chiQ
Frag-muff
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Draco T Bastard
Got a link?
I'm pretty sure I've read that one but can't remember exactly. Wouldn't mind reading the rest of them either if it's the book I think it is.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paladin-Whit...3158823&sr=1-1
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/...ls/paladin.htm

I can't find a lot about it. I also have The Songster (part two).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Songster-Whi...3159122&sr=1-1
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/...s/songster.htm
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Last edited by chiQ : 6th March 2007 at 18:32.
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Old 6th March 2007, 20:16     #162
caffiend
 
Whoa. Just finished Michael King's The Penguin History of New Zealand. Took me a long time, as it's not exactly the sort of book you can't put down. Some sections were pretty easy just because I was specifically interested in them (like prehuman NZ, pre-European settlement, Maori Land Wars, our World War contributions and their aftermath etc), but the sections on the finer points of NZ political party evolution and some of the (to me) fairly heavy-handed doses of colonial guilt-tripping were slow going.

I was surprised by the level of subjective commentary King seems to inject, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Thoroughly recommended for someone wanting a good general overview of NZ's history. It's sparked my interest in a number of areas that I plan to expand on.

Next up is either Elton's Chart Throb, the 2nd book in Iggulden's Emperor trilogy or Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
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Old 7th March 2007, 13:29     #163
Sgt Seb
Up Unt At Dem!
 
"Leadership" by Rudy Guliani is pretty good too. he is hard nuts right wing guy but if you can sift through that crap there is some great insights and tips in there...
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Old 7th March 2007, 15:04     #164
Zag0r
C8H10N4O2
 
Devil grin

I've never been much of a fantasy fan, but I spent last month reading like a bleary eyed fiend hrough 6900 odd pages worth of Robin Hobb: The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy (must read in order!). She paints the most amazing, realistic, and confrontingly human characters I've ever come across. Definite must-reads
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Old 7th March 2007, 18:15     #165
chiQ
Frag-muff
 
I keep seeing her books, but have never read any. I shall make more of an effort
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Old 7th March 2007, 18:41     #166
Rince
SLUTS!!!!!!!
 
Just started on Colour of Magic and then Light Fantastic.... graphic novel versions..... should have both finished tonight
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Old 7th March 2007, 22:17     #167
Kryten
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zag0r
I've never been much of a fantasy fan, but I spent last month reading like a bleary eyed fiend hrough 6900 odd pages worth of Robin Hobb: The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy (must read in order!). She paints the most amazing, realistic, and confrontingly human characters I've ever come across. Definite must-reads
(not directed at Zag0r)

FWIW, the current series is completely different so you can start with Soldier Son and Forest Mage if you prefer - that said, I love the first 9 books to bits, and I can't reiterate enough to use the correct order! (spoilerific thread here).

Last edited by Kryten : 7th March 2007 at 22:18.
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Old 8th March 2007, 17:15     #168
Mabd
 
Devil grin

"Steven Erikson's "Fallen of the Malazan" series. Liking it very much."

Well, I've now read:

Gardens of the Moon
The Deadhouse Gates
The Chain of Dogs
Memories of Ice

and am now reading:

Midnight Tides.

And I have to say Erikson's writing style and attention to minutae have put him right at the top of my favourite authors.

I prefer him to GRRM!

I know!!
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Old 8th March 2007, 17:22     #169
drac0s
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mabd
"Steven Erikson's "Fallen of the Malazan" series. Liking it very much."

Well, I've now read:

Gardens of the Moon
The Deadhouse Gates
The Chain of Dogs
Memories of Ice

and am now reading:

Midnight Tides.

And I have to say Erikson's writing style and attention to minutae have put him right at the top of my favourite authors.

I prefer him to GRRM!

I know!!
Yeah he definetly my favourite author and series
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Old 9th March 2007, 03:05     #170
Nemises
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mabd
And I have to say Erikson's writing style and attention to minutae have put him right at the top of my favourite authors.

I prefer him to GRRM!

I know!!
Hmm...I must check this gentleman out then

..to the bat-amazon!
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Old 12th March 2007, 22:23     #171
Kryten
 
Commando: The Dirty Dozen

I'd seriously forgotten how much I liked these when I was a kid - top notch "boys own" adventure stories. Thankfully I didn't pay $30 for it (another library book), I'm ripping through them too quickly!

The next book out is 12 Anzac stories, I'm going to have to keep an eye out.
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Old 13th March 2007, 18:12     #172
chiQ
Frag-muff
 
I saw Commando collections on sale in Paper Plus recently. I loved them as a kid too
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Old 13th March 2007, 20:29     #173
Sp0nge
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by eff tee
I am currently nearly finished 'All Quiet On The Western Front'.
It's disturbing, but interesting to get a German soldiers perspective on WW1.
Some stuff was pretty freaky,

I found an old copy of this book
(cloth bound and published in 1929!)
and its well worth a read...

i'd rate it as one of my top 10 ever reads
(and i've read so many thousands of books that my mind turned to mush)
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Old 10th May 2007, 16:26     #174
[BT]Monza
 
Thumbs up

Just finished The Penguin History of New Zealand by Micheal King, a book every NZer should read at least once.
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Old 10th May 2007, 16:33     #175
[Malks] Pixie
 
Just about finished with "Blood Music" by Greg Bear....

Excellent novel - better than the original short story to be honest. Deals with the idea of a genetically engineered plauge of sorts - though not perhaps in the way you would image. Brings up some excellent questions about the nature of intelligence even if it does get a bit "wiggy" with the physics at the end of the book!

Pixie
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Old 10th May 2007, 16:38     #176
Simon
SHG
 
For a laugh I am skimming through Weis and Hickman's "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" for the first time in twenty-odd years. For all my childhood memories of playing the pen-and-paper Dragonlance campaign, this book is fucking terrible.
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Old 10th May 2007, 16:53     #177
caffiend
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by [BT]Monza
Just finished The Penguin History of New Zealand by Micheal King, a book every NZer should read at least once.
Good call . Finished it a couple of months ago.
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Old 10th May 2007, 17:18     #178
drac0s
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon
For a laugh I am skimming through Weis and Hickman's "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" for the first time in twenty-odd years. For all my childhood memories of playing the pen-and-paper Dragonlance campaign, this book is fucking terrible.
why terrible? can remember the basics of the story but not much details, you talking bad storyline or just bad writing. It's going to be a movie soon as well isn't it?
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Old 10th May 2007, 17:38     #179
Mabd
 
Devil grin

Recently read the Dragonlance series again. I liked it still - but then I'm not comparing it to some later authors who have much to thank Weiss and Hickman for in respects of opening up the mass market fantasy... market.
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Old 10th May 2007, 17:59     #180
Simon
SHG
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by drac0s
why terrible? can remember the basics of the story but not much details, you talking bad storyline or just bad writing. It's going to be a movie soon as well isn't it?
I actually quite like the Dragonlance storyline, although it's pretty standard post-Tolkien TSR stuff. But the writing in "Twilight" is just fucking painful. It's awful.
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Old 10th May 2007, 18:45     #181
drake
 
Wizard and Glass book 4 of the Dark Tower Series by Stephen King and its awesometastic.
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Old 12th May 2007, 21:58     #182
Nemises
 
Crying

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mabd
"Steven Erikson's "Fallen of the Malazan" series. Liking it very much."

Well, I've now read:

Gardens of the Moon
The Deadhouse Gates
The Chain of Dogs
Memories of Ice

and am now reading:

Midnight Tides.

And I have to say Erikson's writing style and attention to minutae have put him right at the top of my favourite authors.

I prefer him to GRRM!

I know!!
Hmm..I hope this book / series improves a lot Mabd!

I'm halfway through the first one (gardens of the moon), and am really struggling to enjoy it ....he flits from character to character, from world event to world event without investing any life in them. Some of his descriptive language is embarrasingly cliche, and his characters are all painted with bold primary colors ie. "xyz is an assasin..THE BEST ASSASIN IN THE WORLD!...abc is a mage THE MOST POWERFUL MAGE IN THE WORLD .. or at least thats how it seems to me so far.

However, I committed and bought the first 4 books, so, as I say above, I hope it improves! (ie. I know gardens of the moon was his first novel, so I can cut it some slack in that regard)

..he sure aint no GRRM so far :P
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Old 12th May 2007, 23:03     #183
Ajax
Architeuthis
 
Just re-read Frederik Pohl's 'Gateway' for the third time - a true genre masterpiece, but admittedly not to everyone's taste.
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Old 13th May 2007, 03:01     #184
blur^
 
just finished reading all the books currently released for the dresden files by jim butcher, fantastic! 100x better then the tv series

harry dresden is one of the best characters ive ever read about


go check it out imo
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Old 13th May 2007, 08:17     #185
chiQ
Frag-muff
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by blur^
just finished reading all the books currently released for the dresden files by jim butcher, fantastic! 100x better then the tv series

harry dresden is one of the best characters ive ever read about


go check it out imo
Sweet! I will

I'm currently reading Murder on the Orient Express.
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Old 13th May 2007, 08:36     #186
Kryten
 
Everything I've heard is that the Dresden books are way funnier (in a dark way) than the TV show (which, to be fair, had it's good moments).

I'm back to my hard boiled/noir habit, this time with George Pelecanos. Currently I'm on the Derek Strange books (black detective in DC) and I wholeheartedly recommend him if detective/cop fiction is your thing.
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Old 13th May 2007, 10:12     #187
Mabd
 
Devil grin

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemises
Hmm..I hope this book / series improves a lot Mabd!

*clip*

..he sure aint no GRRM so far :P
Perhaps you should sell now, Nem.

Seriously though, I don't know what you look for in a story but this series kinda focus' on the best... mortals, ascendants, gods.. etc. The impact on the rest is shown but it's not a cliched story on mundane people who somehow find it in themselves to survive in unexpected circumstances.

To me it's a fun ride... may not be what you are looking for - keep reading though.

(p.s. Though I love GRRM I did start getting a little bored. )
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Old 13th May 2007, 13:40     #188
rubberchicken
 
The Fabric Of The Cosmos by Brian Greene. Reading it on the bus, half a dozen pages at a time.

The creation of the universe is due to a random probability spike and other fun stuff that results from thinking hard about physics.
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Old 13th May 2007, 16:38     #189
fixed_truth
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
The creation of the universe is due to a random probability spike and other fun stuff that results from thinking hard about physics.
so everything came from nothing?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
just finished "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk - i found it creative, insightful & very entertaining. great read

just started Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis - heard it was good
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Old 13th May 2007, 18:53     #190
chiQ
Frag-muff
 
Just started another Poirot story, Mysterious Affair at Styles.
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Old 13th May 2007, 19:02     #191
[BT]Monza
 
Thumbs up

Quote:
Originally Posted by chiQ
Just started another Poirot story, Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Been watching Poirot a bit on UKTV chanel, all good. Must read some sometime.
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Old 13th May 2007, 20:06     #192
chiQ
Frag-muff
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by [BT]Monza
Been watching Poirot a bit on UKTV chanel, all good. Must read some sometime.
Yeah, same. I thought I might as well have a go.
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Old 13th May 2007, 20:16     #193
Golden Teapot
Love, Actuary
 
I'm currently listening to "The Hallowed Hunt" by Lois McMaster Bujold. It's not quite as good as the other two books in the story arc, but is pretty good all the same.
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Old 14th May 2007, 09:38     #194
flic
Dee Hast Mish
 
The Good Women of China by Xinran Xue
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Old 17th May 2007, 09:41     #195
Whiplash
Bobo Fettish
 
Just finished "Why People Believe Weird Things"

Unfortunately, I am no closer to really understanding why people believe weird things. Only that they do so in opposition to, for the most part, overwhelming evidence.
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Old 17th May 2007, 10:34     #196
Toksin
 
Well, I would be reading The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre, if NZ post hadn't lost my copy in the mail and Fishpond had got their shit together and let me know the replacement was on backorder.

ARGH.

Must get Day Watch too.
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Old 17th May 2007, 11:32     #197
Spink
 
Just finished reading what seemed like a fairly decent translation and explanation of Inferno by Dante, looking forward to Purgatory!
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Old 17th May 2007, 11:37     #198
Rince
SLUTS!!!!!!!
 
just finished the new Lee Child......

all good
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Old 17th May 2007, 12:35     #199
Markh
 
Last Friday I read A E Van Vogt: The Weapon Shops of Isher. Years old but still a good read.

I've got tons of SciFi on my PC and always have a few copied to my Pocket PC. I have already read all the Terry Pratchett books I could get so I am now reading whatever old SciFi books take my fancy.
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Old 17th May 2007, 18:52     #200
Evoke
 
Next by Michael Crichton
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