what are you reading?

piku · Post by **piku** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:22 pm 0

Virtual Light by William Gibson.

I found a bus ticket in it from 2001, which must be the last time I read it

Rib · Post by **Rib** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:48 pm 0

I'm reading this thread in yakyak right now.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:55 pm 0

Rib wrote:I'm reading this thread in yakyak right now.

Very poor. See me after class.

Duck Turkin · Post by **Duck Turkin** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:39 pm 0

Now reading "No god but God' by Reza Aslan.

toxibunny · Post by **toxibunny** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:10 pm 0

nothing at the moment, but I've recently been rereading mona lisa overdrive and idoru by william gibson, then I read a load of vr homebrew pages, then I got a brainwave and realised that those funky looking LCD glasses in the storage shed were actually 3D LCD shutter glasses after alll. score!

piku · Post by **piku** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:21 pm 0

toxibunny wrote: I got a brainwave and realised that those funky looking LCD glasses in the storage shed were actually 3D LCD shutter glasses after alll. score!

Ooh the headache glasses. I had some of those, used them once and took them off after two minutes.

disciple · Post by **disciple** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:26 pm 0

Currently having a bash at Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon.

Star Maker was Olaf Stapledon's third, and most influential science fiction novel. Largely unknown outside of science-fiction circles, the book is nevertheless cited as a key influence by writers from Doris Lessing, Arthur C Clarke and Iain M Banks.
The book is an audacious attempt to consider the nature of the universe, and to find a moral and philosophical framework within it. The plot - if there is one - simply finds a melancholic man one night spirited off for an out-of-body tour of the cosmos in all its magnitude. He observes alien races, intelligent star clusters, and finally the Star Maker himself, a kind of Darwinistic deity creating universes.

The book has been criticised for its lack of structure and characters. But to many it is "the great, grey, holy book of science fiction" (to quote Brian Aldiss.)
There is no doubt of its importance in the development of Space Opera, as well as being an important late work in the scientific romance tradition.

Star Maker has never been filmed, and with its disdain for drama and plot, most likely never will.

Orava · Post by **Orava** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:44 pm 0

As of on the Beta at the moment:

My current book in the loo is Unweaving the Rainbow, which is a bit heavy and pompous to read unless doing the shits.

DutchLlama · Post by **DutchLlama** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 4:04 am 0

Orava wrote:

DAWKINS BEATS POTTER SHOCK

by J. Turd
27th December 2007

Scores of children found the popup book version of Richard Dawkins The Father Christmas Delusion under the Christmas Tree this Boxing Day. The sound of crying could be heard from the Shetland Islands to Land's End.

Asked if he wasn't being terribly cruel by exposing young children to the fact that Father Christmas does not exist and is in fact probably their uncle in disguise Richard Dawkins answered: "They need to learn the hard way that there is nothing in life to believe in and if it scars them for life the message will only be received the more clearer." He remains unphased at the many lawsuits which have been filed against him, telling the suing parents "to keep them coming".

Meanwhile the Bookseller's Association of Britain has revealed that Dawkin's bestseller has outsold Harry Potter's last novel by a landslide, even though it was only released two weeks ago.

Source: The Daily Wail

merman · Post by **merman** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:01 am 0

"Don't Cry for Me, Sergeant Major" - memories of the Falklands War from soldiers and journalists

koogy · Post by **koogy** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:35 pm 0

piku wrote:Virtual Light by William Gibson.

I found a bus ticket in it from 2001, which must be the last time I read it :)

new gibson 'Spook Country' out at the start of next month. ordered mine on monday.

currently re-reading Iain M Banks' Excession. last read in 1997 and i can't remember a thing about it.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:42 pm 0

I've got so much to read it's not even funny. I don't know where to start. I compound the problem by discovering that the entire Tom Corbet Space Cadet series is public domain

Gah...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Corbett,_Space_Cadet

DaiStation · Post by **DaiStation** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:42 pm 0

One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night by Christopher Brookmyre. Sort of Die Hard on an oldrig to hotel conversion but played as opservational comedy. Very good indeed so far.

grue · Post by **grue** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:16 pm 0

Andre Norton - Star Rangers

Orava · Post by **Orava** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:57 pm 0

Just finished Solomon Time by Will Randall which is the sort of travel book you read if you find Bryson annoying.

Now reading "Home - A Colonial's Adventure" by a New Zealander Alan Mulgan, an intriguing account of a New Zealander's trip to the Home - i.e. England in the years after the Great War:

"Then we had our desire fulfilled, and in a manner so completely marvellous, so miraculously charged with wonder and beauty, that no man can fully deserve it. We were abreast the Lizard, close in ; the rain had cleared off ; and there before our eyes was a pageant of the English countryside, clear and serene , containing, it seemed, all that we had dreamed about."