What Book Are You Reading XV - The Pile Keeps Growing!

[Josu]

Ended The Martian by Andy Weir. Simply brilliant. Enjoyed a lot.

Starting Slaugtherhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

 

[Kyriakos]

Nightfall- Asimov.
Felt rather forced.

 

[Takhisis]

I started reading Antony & Cleopatra, by Colleen McCullough. At least this time I know who dies in the end.

Have you read the rest of her Roman books?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Have you read the rest of her Roman books?

I have them, but haven't read them yet. They're packed away, and the only reason I have this one out and available is because it's huge - different edition, and I'd unpacked the box it was in and put those large books on a shelf.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Nightfall- Asimov.
Felt rather forced.

The short story, or the expanded novel with Asimov and Silverberg?


I'm currently reading The Human Experiment by Jane Poytner, on her two years sealed into Biosphere 2, and the experiment that followed. Haven't gotten into the equipment failures & social drama just yet.

 

[Ajidica]

Fun Fact: Steve Bannon (yes that Steve Bannon) was the CEO of Biosphere 2 project.

Biosphere 2

Stephen Bannon and Bernd Zabel talked about Biosphere 2, which scientists in Oracle, Arizona used to study the environment by recreating various ecosystems within an enclosed environment.

www.c-span.org

 

[FriendlyFire]

Calamitous Bob
Somewhat amusing, fantasy adventure, writing style is excellent and enjoyable light reading

Born Under a Lucky Star
Ivan doing soviet things, pretty stark account of experiences of Red Army soldier, not surprising he witness to a lot of deaths, incompetence, stolen valor and uncaring soviet human tactics

 

[Kyriakos]

The short story, or the expanded novel with Asimov and Silverberg?


I'm currently reading The Human Experiment by Jane Poytner, on her two years sealed into Biosphere 2, and the experiment that followed. Haven't gotten into the equipment failures & social drama just yet.

The short story

 

[bene_legionary]

I don't know when Asimov wrote Nightfall, but I wasn't impressed by the later Foundation books, especially Foundation and Earth. The difference between the earlier books and that one led me to search up what was the deal, but then what I found out about Asimov I realised it was pretty par for the course.

He was not particularly respectful to women, so I suppose the main character's actions in Foundation and Earth make more sense.

 

[Kyriakos]

An issue I had with the plot in the Nighfall short story (roughly 20 pages long) was

Spoiler :

that the aliens apparently didn't have any artificial light, until some scientists developed it on account of an expected eclipse. That isn't believable; why would you never want light without being seen by keeping the curtains open or similar. Iirc they had special walls, which allowed some light in (or maybe not even that, judging from an apparent 'new idea' to cut such small holes into a ceiling), but still, seems too overkill when fire-producing mechanisms were ubiquitous. I also doubt the people would just burn the entire city, instead of pyres or similar, and the eclipse only lasted half a day or something=>collapse of all previous circles of civilization doesn't ring true.

I don't know when Asimov wrote Nightfall, but I wasn't impressed by the later Foundation books, especially Foundation and Earth. The difference between the earlier books and that one led me to search up what was the deal, but then what I found out about Asimov I realised it was pretty par for the course.

He was not particularly respectful to women, so I suppose the main character's actions in Foundation and Earth make more sense.

Adapted to a novel...49 years later!

 

[Narz]

Saw Black Swan @ the library, I heard alot about it so I scooped it up

 

[Kyriakos]

What I did like in the two Asimov stories I recently read is that his way of incorporating some science/math is pretty elegant and functions well. Though it is in the periphery of (at least those) the plot. Eg in Nightfall it's just the gravitational law and some general stuff about planetary orbits, while in the Feeling of Power story there is only some allusion to manually computing integrals. So hardly "hard science", but I did find it interesting that even so it has some basic math/science, unlike (eg) Arthur Clarke or P.K.Dick.
Of course you can have science/math front and center. Even the 3BodyProblem books attempt that (though I am not sure how accurate it is; the scope is way larger and includes dangerous extrapolation. The 2d from 3d or even 4d stuff seems fantastical, for example).

 

[Smellincoffee]

An issue I had with the plot in the Nighfall short story (roughly 20 pages long) was

Spoiler :

that the aliens apparently didn't have any artificial light, until some scientists developed it on account of an expected eclipse. That isn't believable; why would you never want light without being seen by keeping the curtains open or similar. Iirc they had special walls, which allowed some light in (or maybe not even that, judging from an apparent 'new idea' to cut such small holes into a ceiling), but still, seems too overkill when fire-producing mechanisms were ubiquitous. I also doubt the people would just burn the entire city, instead of pyres or similar, and the eclipse only lasted half a day or something=>collapse of all previous circles of civilization doesn't ring true.

View attachment 653088

Adapted to a novel...49 years later!

I thought it strange they didn't have more reliable light sources just for building interiors, too. One point about setting ciivilizaiton on fire, though -- they weren't just panicked and trying to create any source of light, Asimov's idea was that the brilliance of stars at the Galactic Center literally drove most people insane.

Still reading The Human Experiment. Should finish tonight. Interesting and eye-opening. Planning on watching the Spaceship Earth documentary after this on the same subject.

 

[Synobun]

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten (3/5)

Spoiler :

This was okay, but it was rather... by the numbers. There were no twists or shake-ups from the tropes. It was a straightforward story with no surprises. It did not feel like I read a unique story with unique characters.

The author uses a nonstandard way of constructing sentences, presumably as a means of exhibiting "voice," but it was used in every single paragraph, often in multiple sentences, and it quickly became grating.

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen (3/5)

Spoiler :

What to rate this? I think I will settle on three stars. The prose itself is quite strong, but there were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way when it came to worldbuilding and stakes. For one, the caste system in this realm makes no sense. The plague is never explained, and the state of things is a static thing that we are expected to just accept. There's no context offered for why anything is the way it is. Because of this, the underlying worldbuilding felt empty.

Another thing was the constant reference to how the MC could "burn Sabor from mountains to coast" with Phoenix teeth. It was mentioned. A lot. *A lot.* Almost anytime the Phoenixes were mentioned, there'd be some sort of reference to how all the MC would need to do is ignite a tooth and just burn everything to the ground. It sounds big, menacing. Except we see her struggle to handle teeth every single time she uses them, especially the Phoenix teeth. Dual-wielding two Phoenix teeth, something horribly taxing and unsustainable, only barely lets her survive a couple minutes against a small group of opponents. It makes every statement of burning the world to the ground totally void of any weight. It's just a catchphrase, at that point.

And lastly, the progression of the romance (since every book needs a romance) was stilted and didn't really parse; it felt as though all the development was cut out in editing and so we just see the MC go from hating the bastard prince to loving the bastard prince for no real reason. As far as mandatory romances go, it's not a strong one.

But still, the writing itself was pleasant to read. Never boring, never awkward, never unclear. It's worth a read.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

One thing to keep in mind about old SF stories: The authors were working with what was known then, and when they tried to extrapolate then-current knowledge to create a futuristic story, they sometimes got it wildly different from what we know currently and what we can plausibly extrapolate now.

I tell myself this every time I watch a Star Trek episode that mentions "Rigel colonies" or a civilization on a world orbiting Vega. Neither star could have intelligent life on planets orbiting them, let alone ancient civilizations, because they're too young. Three hundred years won't make a bit of difference in that.

 

[Josu]

Ended Slaugtherhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
Have to go back to 2017 to find a book in Goodreads which I gave a worst calification. Avoidable.


Starting Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

 

[Kyriakos]

Ended Slaugtherhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
Have to go back to 2017 to find a book in Goodreads which I gave a worst calification. Avoidable.


Starting Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I have read Heart of Darkness
I liked the first part (first third or similar).

 

[Smellincoffee]

Fun Fact: Steve Bannon (yes that Steve Bannon) was the CEO of Biosphere 2 project.

Biosphere 2

Stephen Bannon and Bernd Zabel talked about Biosphere 2, which scientists in Oracle, Arizona used to study the environment by recreating various ecosystems within an enclosed environment.

www.c-span.org

According to The Human Experiment, and he and his brother's investment group only became involved toward the very end of the first two-year experiment. There was some drama with the second crew that followed....a break-in and sabotage that was quickly remedied.

 

[Josu]

Ended Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
Interesting. However I ended with the sensation that the it finishes abruptly

Started Hannibal by Gisbert Haefs

 

[EnglishEdward]

Today I finished reading:

An Ice Cold Grave

by

Charlaine Harris

copyright 2007.

which I picked up second hand for a pound.

Heroine struck by lightning acquires the ability to find dead people
and encounters a set of serial killers in wintry Doraville, N Carolina.

Well written, although slightly old fashioned in some respects,
e.g. character description and I guessed the identity of the last killer.