And I thought a 400+ chapter Harry Potter story was long... I recently found a Merlin story that has 1000 chapters. 
Thank goodness they're short ones.
Thank goodness they're short ones.
What Book Are You Reading XV - The Pile Keeps Growing!
- Thread starter Ajidica
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Are you all right?
Yes, why? Some fanfiction is very long. The story I'm thinking of is called New Blood, in which Hermione asks to be sorted into Slytherin. She's still friends with Harry, but some other dynamics are changed quite a bit from the novels. It's Hermione who slays the basilisk, not Harry, and she captures Sirius Black herself (after a ritual to capture the Potters' betrayer seemingly goes wrong and she and her friends don't understand why they captured Ron's rat instead). Hermione isn't especially close to McGonagall or Dumbledore in this story.
Reading a story in which Hermione and Draco are friends rather than enemies and she's being mentored by Snape rather than tormented by him is an interesting twist. We see more of Hermione's family in this story.
One reason for there being so many chapters is that the chapters themselves aren't very long in comparison to most fanfic stories. So it's 400+. This isn't the only long story I've been reading. I'm currently on Chapter 77 of a 93-chapter Merlin story.
I'm in the midst of planning a fanfic recommendation thread in A&E. If anyone has favorite TV/movies or books they're interested in regarding stories written about the characters, plots, and settings, let me know - I'm willing to at least look for them even if I'm not familiar with it myself (ie. if you're into zombies, I'll look for links to those stories, but don't expect me to read them). And if anyone knows of sites I don't know about, I'd love to have information on them.
Josu
Emperor
Ended Hannibal by Gisbert Haefs
Is not a bad book, however, it should be titled: "How I, Antigonous sees the relationship between Antigonous, who is a fictional character, and the Barca family" by Antigonous.
Hannibal does not apear until de middle of the book, battles and strategies are poorly told, Battle of Zama happens in few lines. There is a 50% in the begining in which Antigonous is introduced, about a 25% with Hannibal marching to Italy, and a 25% at the end in which the author seems in a hurry to end the book.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that this moment in which its said that Antigonous has been to americas an brought a llama wool was totally expendable
Starting Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Is not a bad book, however, it should be titled: "How I, Antigonous sees the relationship between Antigonous, who is a fictional character, and the Barca family" by Antigonous.
Hannibal does not apear until de middle of the book, battles and strategies are poorly told, Battle of Zama happens in few lines. There is a 50% in the begining in which Antigonous is introduced, about a 25% with Hannibal marching to Italy, and a 25% at the end in which the author seems in a hurry to end the book.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that this moment in which its said that Antigonous has been to americas an brought a llama wool was totally expendable
Starting Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
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EgonSpengler
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Project Hail Mary (2021) was also excellent. Artemis (2017) was good, but perhaps a bit of a 'sophomore slump', comparatively. I've reread The Martian and Hail Mary, but I haven't been moved to reread Artemis yet.
Synobun
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Sophomore slump is a nice way of putting it.
Andy cannot write a woman to save his life.
SS-18 ICBM
Oscillator
A History of Modern Uganda by Richard Reid takes a thematic approach, forgoing chronological organization for a decentralized approach to history. Maps at the beginning help to illustrate the long-term tendencies brought up in the text such as migrations and kingdoms. Key themes are Uganda's diversity, which has led to "political claustrophobia" as various groups seek to assert their influence, sometimes with overt violence. The book is not a good introduction, as it starts (after a chapter on historiography) right when Museveni takes power. The meandering, unorganized style is not interested in introductions, e.g. talking about Milton Obote while assuming the reader already knows about his two terms of power before and after the infamous Idi Amin.
Satan and Mary are quite well written…
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Finished Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are by Michael Pye. It's an overview of the emergence of the commercial economy of Northern Europe from the Carolingian era to the Early Modern period, focusing as the name suggests on the coastal regions connected by the North Sea trade. It's an interesting read which has helped give bigger-picture context to some other reading about the early modern period, however, I do have to feel a little cheated by the lack of nautical content: while the seagoing trade is obviously central, the actual nuts-and-bolts of the trade aren't presented in a lot of detail. We hear a lot about merchants but not much about sailors; a lot about cargos but not much about boats, and I think it does slightly weaken the book as it seems to render the framing a bit arbitrary.
Starting on War in Human Civilization by Azar Gatz, an 800-page monster which promises to cover human warfare from the paleolithic to the modern era. Might be a while to get through this one.
Starting on War in Human Civilization by Azar Gatz, an 800-page monster which promises to cover human warfare from the paleolithic to the modern era. Might be a while to get through this one.
bene_legionary
Searching for the daguerrotype of God
I just finished One Flew Over the ****oo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Hoo, what a book, and I really shouldn't have stayed up late to keep reading, but hot damn the ending kicks, the twist flops and a bit of brain is lost.
It was required reading for school, but I enjoyed this one, for the chaos and the thoughts and how I have to talk about Kesey being on government-sponsored LSD while he was writing this. Chief Bromden, he's free as a bird (even a goose or a ****oo if I say so myself).
Hahahahahaha Civfanatics doesn't like those parasitic birds that don't have nests hahahahahahahaha
It was required reading for school, but I enjoyed this one, for the chaos and the thoughts and how I have to talk about Kesey being on government-sponsored LSD while he was writing this. Chief Bromden, he's free as a bird (even a goose or a ****oo if I say so myself).
Hahahahahaha Civfanatics doesn't like those parasitic birds that don't have nests hahahahahahahaha
Just started the Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor. It's a novel based in modern India. It grabbed me from the start and held me close for the 150 pages I've read so far. 400 more to go! It would make a great movie.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
That series of letters had a spate of, ah, unconstructive usage a few years back, so it was added to the auto-filter. Guess it hasn't been removed.
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r16
not deity
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assuming electronic books count ... Finished the Fate of the Jedi series from the expanded universe thing of Star Wars , now termed Legends and no longer counts as official or anything . Was surprised to see that possibility of material being more bleak than Disney's cancelled lot . Despite the thing that the story has painted itself into a corner by the years . But yeah , the isolated planet can be used , with some different end .
EnglishEdward
Deity
Last week I finished reading:
Voices from the Titanic
copyright 2002
edited by Geoff Tibbals
which made for some sad reading.
Voices from the Titanic
copyright 2002
edited by Geoff Tibbals
which made for some sad reading.
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SS-18 ICBM
Oscillator
Finished a PDF of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan from McMaster University's Archive for the History of Economic Thought. The text is divided into 4 sections. The first outlines Hobbes' theory of mind which relies on sensory information, reminiscent of the empiricist tradition that would be pioneered by Hume and other thinkers. Aside from explaining religion as another way to explain the world, the (in)famous concept of the human state of nature as "solitary, nasty, brutish, poor, and short" is outlined. The next section explores the grand idea of the work, how people invest all power in a Sovereign who is the head of a Commonwealth to find security in the enforcement of laws that maintain a society. This is followed by a section that examines scripture, justifying why the Sovereign also must wield spiritual authority alongside temporal for the benefit of the Commonwealth. A final section on spiritual errors that threaten the Commonwealth closes out the book.
The conclusion to the text reveals the context of the writing, being published at the end of the English Civil War, which is important to understanding Hobbes' emphasis on strong, authoritarian means to achieve peace. Given the country it was written in, there is a noticeable monarchist bent and a suspicion of democracies.While it is one of the foundations of social contract theory, the work doesn't really address what happens when the Sovereign is tyrannical as it lacks a solid conception of the consent of the governed. There are also various weaknesses such as confusing virtues with natural law, and dismissing Greek philosophy as nonsense even as it relies on Aristotelian ethics and politics.
The conclusion to the text reveals the context of the writing, being published at the end of the English Civil War, which is important to understanding Hobbes' emphasis on strong, authoritarian means to achieve peace. Given the country it was written in, there is a noticeable monarchist bent and a suspicion of democracies.While it is one of the foundations of social contract theory, the work doesn't really address what happens when the Sovereign is tyrannical as it lacks a solid conception of the consent of the governed. There are also various weaknesses such as confusing virtues with natural law, and dismissing Greek philosophy as nonsense even as it relies on Aristotelian ethics and politics.
EgonSpengler
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Shift (2013) by Hugh Howey, Book 2 of the Silo series, upon which the upcoming Apple TV series with Rebecca Ferguson is based. It's been years since I read the first book, Wool (2011), and as I started this one I couldn't remember how the first one ended. I figured it was no big deal, I'd either catch up on the fly or Shift would jog my memory about Wool. But it turns out Shift is a prequel, and features a whole new set of characters. Anyway, I'm about halfway through and it's pretty good so far. I am tempted to go back and reread Wool before the Apple series starts, if I have time.
I started it on Saturday and closed it at page 548 tonight. All done. It was a great read and thrilling story of an Indian crime family. A follow up volume would even be welcome.
Hygro
soundcloud.com/hygro/
I'll never read it, but it sounds kind of cool.
It was updated yesterday, and I realize I'm a little behind. If anyone wants to try it, here's the link: New Blood.
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