What are you reading?

[Kensomniac]

I'm reading "The Green Mile" by Stephen King... very good book so far.

[Injektilo]

Originally Posted by Herne the hunter

I was never much into the whole Inquisition thing. My main love was tyranids and the whole good vs evil thing between the Imperium and Chaos (the twist being that they're BOTH evil since Chaos are demonic and the Imperium are nothing short of fundamentalist nazis).

Any Ork-based stories? If so, do they talk in comedic cockney fashion like they always did in White Dwarf's fiction?

Also; any Warhammer books yet? I'd be interested in reading about Orc goings on since they were the only force I liked in WHFB.

Behold, the Black Library. GW's official novel site - should answer pretty much all your questions...

Should give Grey Knights a go, they're a SM chapter under the command of the Inquisition who specialise in battling daemons. Space Marines still do crop up here and there in Eisenhorn, and there's a devastatingly brilliant opener to the second book when a monumentally huge parade goes massively wrong when the captured psykers on display are freed. Abnett's description of the several million civilians in attendance dying en masse was a spine tingling read. Chaos plays a big part in the story too, give it a shot!

[J A Eyers]

Ugh. There should be a separate thread for Warhammer cash-ins to keep this one pure for real books.

I am currently reading The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck, which he wrote as propaganda during World War Two. It got very harshly received for portraying the Nazis as normal human beings with flaws and fears and other human facets, but Steinbeck argued that this was the perfect counter to the Nazis' own claim that they were a race of superhumans. Actually, it's so short that if I hadn't posted in this thread I could have finished another 10% of the book.

[Injektilo]

Originally Posted by J A Eyers

Ugh. There should be a separate thread for Warhammer cash-ins to keep this one pure for real books.

Shut up. Abnett>You.

[J A Eyers]

He can't wright worth shit.

[Descarte]

i read a games workshop book once it was about some space marine wolf-dude. it started off with a confusing and poorly written introduction where theyre assaulting this ork-place. then it cut to a flashback of a previous mission where they enter an installation and do stuff. then it cut back to the assault. i think that was the whole book :unhappy

[MacCabbe]

(the whole books)

[Descarte]

gw really did fuck up the space marines. nowadays the writers just jack each other off on how awesome and cool and strong and courageous and awesomely cool the space marines are. its almost worse than nazi fanboyism :unhappy

1 space marine = 2 ork plz

[Conner Macleod]

1 Protoss zealot > 1 space marine + 2 orks

[Injektilo]

Shame the Zealot would be punched out by bolter fire before getting close eh.

I actually agree with descarte, reading from the perspective of the unflinching ideals of the Imperium and pretty much supermassivebadass strength of the Space Marines can get pretty tiresome. Inquisition books are far more unpredictable.

I'd be interested in seeing how an Eldar or Tau novel would go too.

[Descarte]

Originally Posted by Conner Macleod

1 Protoss zealot > 1 space marine + 2 orks

wtf are you talking about 1 eldar doesnt even = 1 space marine its close but no dice

[Herne the hunter]

Much as I used to love Warhammer, I'm embarassed at what this thread has suddenly turned into. :unhappy

[Descarte]

Originally Posted by Injektilo

I'd be interested in seeing how an Eldar or Tau novel would go too.

the tau would be written from the perspective of the newly recruited soldier C'alr Mairks and would go into how much he agreed with the utopian society that the tau live in. it would be written by a philosophy major and would go into a whole lot of deep-sounding but inevitably ridiculous ideals. for teh greater good!!1

the eldar book wouldnt even get published because the publishers would mistake eldar for vulcan and who the fuck reads about vulcans. instead the author would be forced to rewrite the book using dark elves instead and would include many gratuitous sex scenes to please the 15-16 year old nerds that are ultimately its only fanbase

[Renegade 2501]

I just started reading Moby Dick. Always wanted to read it, and I feel like I'm up for it now.

[Kimarhi Ronso]

Old Man's War and its sequel Ghost Brigades.

Pretty interesting if you like the Starship Troopers/Orphanage/Forever War/Armor style books.

Though alot of the tech seems to be quite similar to Gits.

Instead of suits the humans are outfitted with new physical bodies with heavy modifications. Its here the GITS parallel starts being drawn.

[HighHopes]

I'm reading the last Harry Potter book. Much slower than usual, due to mass ammounts of commitments this time of year. I'm so scared of the ending being ruined... actually the dumb people have probably finished it by now. Therefore, I should avoid the internet from now on.

[J A Eyers]

I've been caught up in the HP hype for once (can't help it this time, working for the company that published it and all), and I'm now reading The Order of the Phoenix. I read the fourth book four years ago, which is quite a gap. I've only just started this one. So far, so samey (HP at the aunt and uncle's house, aunt and uncle get angry and rant against magic, cousin being a dick, something magic happens).

[Renegade 2501]

I have made it a goal to never read the Harry Potter books, mainly because I find all the celebrity and advertising and crazy fans utterly annoying. I'm sure they're enjoyable (they must be), but I know without ever reading one that they're not what I would spend my time with.

[itsallgoodbabyGb]

Originally Posted by Renegade 2501

I have made it a goal to never read the Harry Potter books, mainly because I find all the celebrity and advertising and crazy fans utterly annoying. I'm sure they're enjoyable (they must be), but I know without ever reading one that they're not what I would spend my time with.

way to sum up my exact feelings on the franchise.

the rabid fandom and the royal status rowling has aquired gives me cause to despise her and the books. i think gaiman tells better stories anyway (i saw half of the film, i went against my principles and gave it a chance)

[J A Eyers]

Well, that's just elitist. "It's popular, therefore I won't demean myself to look at it." Lord of the Rings is probably as popular, with an even more insane fanbase, but you don't catch me sticking my nose in the air and turning my face away in disdain simply because they're popular. I couldn't finish the LOTR books myself, but the films were great, and I couldn't care less whether anyone thought I was a sheep for liking them.

Sure, the Harry Potter series aren't the best-written books ever, and the ideas aren't really very original, but at a time when we're told books won't survive our generation because of alternative stimulation from 500+ TV channels or a choice of a dozen games consoles (and thousands of games), I think it's a nice sign when 11 million people go out of their way on the same day to buy something as archaic and simple as a book.

I don't think Rowling's achievement should be played down. I basically stopped reading between the ages of 13 and 16 because I couldn't find any books aimed at my age that I wanted to read, and was being told what books I should be reading, and had no interest in them. I was one of those kids that went off and watched TV and played computer games (or wrote stories of my own to replace the ones I didn't read). But kids now won't suddenly stop reading now that Harry Potter is over. They'll move onto other books, looking to fill the void, and probably yes, they will find the better ones out there. This is a good time for the world of books, and JK Rowling deserves her part of the credit for that.

[Warrior_Alien]

I realised that I wasn't a big fan of the Potter books about halfway through Order of the Phoenix. To date, the only book and subsequent film adaptation of that series I've really liked is Prisoner of Azkaban.

Right now, The Dark Tower seems to be my series of choice. I'm currently halfway through Wizard and Glass, and hope to be done the series by summer's end.

[itsallgoodbabyGb]

Originally Posted by J A Eyers

Well, that's just elitist. "It's popular, therefore I won't demean myself to look at it." Lord of the Rings is probably as popular, with an even more insane fanbase, but you don't catch me sticking my nose in the air and turning my face away in disdain simply because they're popular. I couldn't finish the LOTR books myself, but the films were great, and I couldn't care less whether anyone thought I was a sheep for liking them.

Sure, the Harry Potter series aren't the best-written books ever, and the ideas aren't really very original, but at a time when we're told books won't survive our generation because of alternative stimulation from 500+ TV channels or a choice of a dozen games consoles (and thousands of games), I think it's a nice sign when 11 million people go out of their way on the same day to buy something as archaic and simple as a book.

I don't think Rowling's achievement should be played down. I basically stopped reading between the ages of 13 and 16 because I couldn't find any books aimed at my age that I wanted to read, and was being told what books I should be reading, and had no interest in them. I was one of those kids that went off and watched TV and played computer games (or wrote stories of my own to replace the ones I didn't read). But kids now won't suddenly stop reading now that Harry Potter is over. They'll move onto other books, looking to fill the void, and probably yes, they will find the better ones out there. This is a good time for the world of books, and JK Rowling deserves her part of the credit for that.

im well aware of the reinvigoration for reading that these books have created, and rowling deserves praise for achieving this; it is indeed pleasant to see such a renewed interest in the general public for the art of books in this age of entertainment saturation. apparently, the books are written with near perfect grammar, syntax and so forth, but the story is not something that appeals to me personally, although i do like some fantasy. perhaps i should have specified this, as my previous post upon re-reading does indeed read as elitist.

i was in fact talking about the royal status rowling has acquired and the intense media scrutiny on a story which as you observe surely isnt the best story ever told, and its author. perhaps i should have specifically identified this as the focus of my ire with regards to the franchise.

also, i am disheartened that since ive returned to post on gg in the last few months, this is one of the only replies ive recieved to a post (if indeed it is a reply to me!) and like the others it's negative. wtf.

[J A Eyers]

I don't think you can blame Rowling for that status. It's just the modern world in which anyone who is a great achiever gets attention. I think she should actually be celebrated for NOT becoming a celebrity. She's remained very private, rarely doing public appearances or interviews, not splashing her children across the newspapers or selling her wedding to OK! magazine. If Tolkein was alive today, he'd be worshipped as a deity by a million nutters. Adult ones, that should know better. Most of Rowling's devoted admirers are kids.

Of course, none of this should reflect either way on the books. All books should be taken on their own merits. Dan Brown is a big fan of Jeffrey Archer's books, after all. It's clearly irrelevant to him that most people think Jeffrey Archer's a twat. I just don't think people should be making subjective judgements about books they haven't read simply based on the author's position in the zeitgeist or public consciousness.

[itsallgoodbabyGb]

Originally Posted by J A Eyers

I just don't think people should be making subjective judgements about books they haven't read simply based on the author's position in the zeitgeist or public consciousness.

Originally Posted by itsallgoodbabyGb

i was in fact talking about the royal status rowling has acquired and the intense media scrutiny on a story which as you observe surely isnt the best story ever told, and its author. perhaps i should have specifically identified this as the focus of my ire with regards to the franchise.

ok? my first post incorrectly expressed this. sorry already.

[noodle boy]

I enjoyed the Harry potter books. The movies, with the exception of the third one were absolutely dreadful, but the books were good. they were simple, they were fairly well written and they were fun. Mind blowingly great? No. They're sort of like a good popcorn movie. It's there when you just want to read and not think about it too hard. The fans revolt me, yeah, but that's just natural. They're a sad bunch of freaks, yeah, but they're just like any other group of people who take their entertainment WAY too seriously, kind of like Trekkies and those Star Wars creeps who get decked out in full imperial armor for conventions. It has had FAR too much impact for a children's series (I personally prefered the lemony snicket books because they were so odd and different for that kind of thing) and the older fans are just creepy, creepy people. I'd still take Harry potter over pretty much anything written by Stephen King, though.

[Renegade 2501]

Yeah I'll never read them.

[J A Eyers]

Originally Posted by noodle boy

It has had FAR too much impact for a children's series

I'm interested in what you mean by this bit.

[nemarsde]

Didn't really enjoy the first Harry Potter book and it's the only one I read. I thought it was wholly unoriginal, predictable but done with a panache and singular focus lacking in something like Eragon. Rowling seems to have such a clear idea of whom she's writing for (and I think it's her own children), the best storytellers are the ones who know their audience, even if the audience isn't present.

I think Harry Potter has been absolutely, 100% positive for the literary world.

Anyway, I've just finished George David Robert's Shantaram and it took me a looong time, I can tell you. Why? Well it's a big book, 600 odd pages, but really it's two books of 300 pages each. The first half of the book deserves the reputation as a modern masterpiece. There is genius at work in the first half of the book. I mean it. Genius.

But the second half, oh my goodness, does it drag on. Basically the first half of the book is about normal people and everyday lives. The second half is about the criminal underworld. Robert's is so obviously at his best when he's writing about the former and at his worst writing about the latter. It's a startling contrast. I'm not sure I could recommend it, because the last half is such a struggle. A shame.

[J A Eyers]

The first two Harry Potter books were pretty poor in my opinion. It's like they only became mega popular around the time of the third book, after which Rowling could stop listening to her critics and editors. This can be the kiss of death for many an egotistical writer (hello, Stephen King - written any stories about kids having sex in the sewer lately? Oh, you were on cocaine and don't remember writing that... riiiiight), but Rowling's reputed to be something of a control freak.

And I must say, the fifth book is turning out to be my favourite so far. Unlike the previous books (to different extents), this one is loose, lacking a clunk-clunk structure, and is pretty much all over the place, in an uninhibited rather than wholly indulgent way. It's the first one I've really felt any emotional engagement with at all, though perhaps that's due to my being passed over to become a prefect in favour of far more unsuitable characters, just like HP. Grr.

Though one of the characters does say the line "At least we kept our peckers up" at one point around page 250... I read that through about six times, and I still can't imagine what else Rowling could have meant by that. Does pecker have any alternative meanings?

[nemarsde]

Pecker, as in beak, as in "At least we kept our chins up". It's not an unfamiliar phrase around here, even if it's not exactly common either (probably because of the American usage).