what are you reading?

cj2003 · Post by **cj2003** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:11 am 0

Sorry, inspired by this thread, I was searching for R.A. Salvatore - and it came up with two threads .... and silly me posted in the old thread.

[Feeblez] · Post by **[Feeblez]** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:25 am 0

So is this the real thread then?

I've started reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.

I believe it's a trilogy.

Anyone read this? Is it any good. No spoilers please.

Fantasy ala Harry Potter isn't really my kind of thing, but i'm giving it a go.

grue · Post by **grue** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:35 am 0

[Feeblez] wrote:So is this the real thread then?

I've started reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.

I believe it's a trilogy.

Anyone read this? Is it any good. No spoilers please.

Fantasy ala Harry Potter isn't really my kind of thing, but i'm giving it a go.

It's amazing! Harry Potter can fuck right off if you ask me. Pullman is a real storyteller and uses the story to pass thought provoking messages along with entairtainment.

You're in quite a ride mate.

IronGiant · Post by **IronGiant** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:36 am 0

Yeah, Northern Lights is the first in the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy. Some people love it, I thought it was good but not great (same goes for the other two in the trilogy).

I thought that Philip Pullman was at his best with his earlier Sally Lockhart books (The Ruby in the Smoke being the first) which are set in Victorian London.

DutchLlama · Post by **DutchLlama** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:45 am 0

I'm currently reading Misspent Youth by Peter F. Hamilton.

http://trashotron.com/agony/reviews/200 ... _youth.htm

Viscount Charles · Post by **Viscount Charles** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:01 pm 0

I've just finished his "Judas Unchained". I'd have to say, my interest in it kicked up a notch after about 100 pages, when I actually read the back cover and discovered that it wasn't the middle volume in a three-parter, but the concluding volume in a two-parter!

It also has the longest, most adrenaline-fuelled conclusion of any book I've read - with about 400 pages to go, the pace goes into overdrive. You know that events are nearing a resolution, what surprises is that it takes all 400 pagesof intense action to get there. I was quite exhausted by the end.

mutopian · Post by **mutopian** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:42 pm 0

Working my way through the Harry Dresden files by Jim Butcher (on book 6) at the moment. They don't require a lot of deep thinking/analyzing which is nice back and forth

grue · Post by **grue** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:06 pm 0

mutopian wrote:Working my way through the Harry Dresden files by Jim Butcher (on book 6) at the moment. They don't require a lot of deep thinking/analyzing which is nice back and forth

I've read only Stormfront but although Dresden is quite interesting as a character and I'm a sucker for monologue and noir situations I found it very shallow. Are the following volumes any better?

Anders · Post by **Anders** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:24 pm 0

grue wrote:
Anders wrote:Been reading loads of comics lately, mainly Hellboy and B.P.R.D. Good stuff too.
If you like a great story in comics you can't go wrong with Hugo Pratt.
The ballad of the salt sea is his best IMHO and a close second is Ernie Pike which are real stories from the WW2 as witnessed by a war reporter (Ernie Pike).

It's not fantasy but Pratt is unique in style and imagination.

Never heard of him, but I'll check it out. Thanks for the tip.

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 3:29 pm 0

kalmar wrote:Now you've reminded me of another story from that library. It's set in the future, where London and the west have been cordoned off from the rest of the country, which is full of "unnems" and being left to rot. The suppressed population are fed a short-life cocktail of bad nutrition, brain destroying television and addictive gambling machines (sound familiar?). One privileged lad decides to explore the other side and eventually escapes to Scotland with his girl, where they get shot at by a automated RSPB protection system. It was obviously full of lots of political comment that I wouldn't have got at the time

Anyone?

I'd put money on that being Futuretrack 5 by Robert Westall. Cracking book.

kalmar · Post by **kalmar** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:04 pm 0

Firefox wrote:
kalmar wrote:Now you've reminded me of another story from that library. It's set in the future, where London and the west have been cordoned off from the rest of the country, which is full of "unnems" and being left to rot. The suppressed population are fed a short-life cocktail of bad nutrition, brain destroying television and addictive gambling machines (sound familiar?). One privileged lad decides to explore the other side and eventually escapes to Scotland with his girl, where they get shot at by a automated RSPB protection system. It was obviously full of lots of political comment that I wouldn't have got at the time

Anyone?
I'd put money on that being Futuretrack 5 by Robert Westall. Cracking book.

That's the one! Thanks a lot, I'll see if I can find it somewhere

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:06 pm 0

NP!

Amazon have it in stock for a fiver.

cyric100 · Post by **cyric100** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:01 pm 0

Currently reading "So many steps to death" (a.k.a. Destination unknown) by Agatha Christie. I seem to have set myself a goal to have (and have read) all of the Agatha Christie books and am well on the way to achieving that.

supermonkeyworld · Post by **supermonkeyworld** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:42 pm 0

Finished The Illiad a few weeks ago, now I'm on to Homer's The Odyssey.

F-ZeroOne · Post by **F-ZeroOne** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 9:59 pm 0

Currently, the Toyminator by Robert Rankin. And A Short History of Nearly Everything. Again.