The Gaming Den

Crissa wrote:We read Barsoom in class. I really didn't find the attraction.

-Crissa

Um, I was a twelve year old boy at the time. I'm guessing you weren't, and/or your teacher didn't use the edition with that cover.

Barsoom pretty much established the "shoot a monster, grab a tit" subgenre of adventure stories and fantasy writing.

I've been reading the Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard K. Morgan. Also just finished A Fire Upon The Deep and A Deepness In The Sky.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Kovacs

RiotGearEpsilon wrote:I've been reading the Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard K. Morgan. Also just finished A Fire Upon The Deep and A Deepness In The Sky.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Kovacs

Good books all. And who would have thought that giant spiders were the original steam punks?

At the moment I'm working through Marvel's Punisher Max series, after learning the more recent Punisher movie was based off of it, and reading some comments on it on Tv Tropes.

It's pretty good for trashy crime oriented "kill all them criminal mother fuckers" stuff.

Prak_Anima wrote:It's pretty good for trashy crime oriented "kill all them criminal mother fuckers" stuff.

"The Slavers" and "Man of Stone" are gut-wrenching arcs.

I just finished the Russia story arc. I agree with whoever said they could read page after page of Nick Fury hitting people in the face with his belt buckle calling them cocksuckers and motherfuckers. Really, Fury should get his own series of this sort.

Prak_Anima wrote:Really, Fury should get his own series of this sort.

He had a MAX mini-series in 2002 also written by Ennis. Six issues of boning hookers, killing Russians and putting out cigars in the eyes of bureaucrats. It wasn't your daddy's Nick Fury but I thought it worked.

I am reading an Eberron novel I picked up when I was desperate for easily digestable reading material. It is surprisingly decent.

Follow up I said I would post on Mistakes Were Made (but not by me):

The book isn't a list of cognitive errors, it's an in-depth discussion on the [impractical] applications of one cognitive error. And while it gives some suggestions of things to do to apply what you learn, it's clear that the authors believe that comprehensive understanding will subconsciously increase your awareness (which has been true for both me and my husband).

But right now, I'm reading Nurture Shock, by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman.

It's NOT a parenting book. It's a book that covers ten topics relating to mostly the psychology of children:

1. The Inverse Power of Praise (telling a child they're smart versus hard-working)
2. The Lost Hour (the enormous importance of sleep)
3. Why White Parents Don't Talk About Race (how do you make kids colorblind?)
4. Why Kids Lie (the double-edged sword that is lying)
5. The Search for Intelligent Life in Kindergarten (testing for smarts to separate the gifted from the un-)
6. The Sibling Effect
7. The Science of Teen Rebellion
8. Can Self-Control Be Taught?
9. Plays Well With Others
10. Why Hannah Talks and Alyssa Doesn't

*Note: I'm only up to the part where the parenthetical notes end.

So far the book is addictively interesting. I keep thinking that certain chapters are more interesting than others, but then I can't pinpoint exactly which ones because they're all good. And I will definitely put what I learn to [hopefully] good use.

Several things...

1.) Read the latest in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, "The Gathering Storm" (written after his death by another author, using his notes). Actually better than any of Jordan's own work since book 6 or so. Some decent Mat stuff, Egwene kicks some ass. I still want to punch Nynaeve in the face just about all the time, and I'm still waiting for Rand to have his (author-dream-inspired, probably) foursome with all his hot girlfriends.

2.) Read the first book of "Battle Angel Alita"...quite nice. I need to find the rest of it (my library only had vol. 1).

3.) Started reading "The Peacemaker" manga...pretty good. I've actually started looking into the history behind it (the Shinsengumi, etc), which is interesting in it's own right. I'll need to see if I can find a biography of Ryoma Sakamoto.

4.) Tried re-reading some of Eric V. Lustbader's Nicholas Linnear novels ("The Ninja", "The Miko", etc). Holy shit, man's misogyny is crazy-bad. He seriously cannot write a female character who isn't weak and entirely defined by the men she fucks (or who fuck her, often regardless of her feelings on the matter). It is eye-gougingly bad. This is interesting to me, considering his Sunset Warrior series had much better female protagonists. I should re-read those.

Maj wrote: So far the book is addictively interesting. I keep thinking that certain chapters are more interesting than others, but then I can't pinpoint exactly which ones because they're all good. And I will definitely put what I learn to [hopefully] good use.

It sounds as though you may find some joy of learning by listening to Radio Lab podcasts as well. It's an NPR radio program where they look at all sorts of topics and sometimes touch upon some of the items your book appears to (I'm pretty sure I've already encountered #'s 1,2,3,5,8 on various radiolab programs). The show is basically an eclectic and scatter-brained "How things work" for everything and anything, which often winds up being counter to what I have been taught. Some very good storytelling as it is entertaining no matter what the subject matter turns out to be.

I've been putting them on my ipod and any drives >20 minutes we hook the ipod up to the car and play part of a podcast (which run just under 1 hour) on our ride.

Prak: if you like "punisher max" you should read "Hitman" or at least Ennis' run of it. It's a little more tongue-in-cheek than punisher's "SERIOUS-BUSINESS" attitude. Also "criminal" by Ed Brubaker, "Sleeper" by brubaker, "100 bullets" by Brian azzarello, and any of the recent Vertigo: Crime subimprint of graphic novels are decent for the whole crime pulp style.

Oh, incidentally I read all those books recently.

Also read, Ursula leguin's "Gifts", "voices", and right now I'm in the middle of "powers."

I picked up a young adult book called "Heck: superhero" that's about the way a teen who has to deal with a severely depressed mother who skips out on him for days by imagining he's a superhero. Also deals with ethics such as stealing from friends, doing good deeds (major plot device in novel), and testing limits by taking drugs.

I really like Young adult novels. they have such a better range of plot than Adult fiction.

PoliteNewb wrote:1.) Read the latest in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, "The Gathering Storm" (written after his death by another author, using his notes). Actually better than any of Jordan's own work since book 6 or so. Some decent Mat stuff, Egwene kicks some ass. I still want to punch Nynaeve in the face just about all the time, and I'm still waiting for Rand to have his (author-dream-inspired, probably) foursome with all his hot girlfriends.

Seriously? I just ordered that book, but Knife of Dreams was actually really good (one of the best of series) and a hard act to top.

I've been on a serious comic kick recently.

I've been reading "exiles" which is a marvel super hero quantum leap + sliders comic. It's been pretty decent. Chuck Austen is probably one of the better comic writers who gets smothered under all the superstar writers like Warren Ellis, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis*. His writing is very much the stereotypical comic book writing of the 90s. I like it.

*what the fuck is with the similar alliterative names among these big writers.

PoliteNewb wrote: 4.) Tried re-reading some of Eric V. Lustbader's Nicholas Linnear novels ("The Ninja", "The Miko", etc). Holy shit, man's misogyny is crazy-bad. He seriously cannot write a female character who isn't weak and entirely defined by the men she fucks (or who fuck her, often regardless of her feelings on the matter). It is eye-gougingly bad. This is interesting to me, considering his Sunset Warrior series had much better female protagonists. I should re-read those.

His Pearl Saga books are horrifically bad as well. I seem to recall that the initially male protagonist gets transformed into a woman solely so that (s)he can have "hot"lesbian sex with the chick (s)he fell in love with before becoming a woman.

Oh and then, for whatever, male genitalia are always referred to as one's tender parts. So hero realizes that he has become female when he looks in his pants or something and shouts "Oh no! My tender parts!"

Terribad books.

Surgo wrote:

PoliteNewb wrote:1.) Read the latest in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, "The Gathering Storm" (written after his death by another author, using his notes). Actually better than any of Jordan's own work since book 6 or so. Some decent Mat stuff, Egwene kicks some ass. I still want to punch Nynaeve in the face just about all the time, and I'm still waiting for Rand to have his (author-dream-inspired, probably) foursome with all his hot girlfriends.

Seriously? I just ordered that book, but Knife of Dreams was actually really good (one of the best of series) and a hard act to top.

Actually...I may need to revise that; I'm re-reading Knife of Dreams right now (reading tGS put me back in a WoT mood), and I had honestly forgotten how good it was, especially for Mat action (who is my fave character).

That said...Gathering Storm may STILL come out on top. I forgot to mention that Rand stops being a complete and utter dumbass, which is really important. And while KoD has great scenes with Mat, it also has the scenes with Perrin/Faile that make me want to tear my hair out, and a LOT of Elayne, who I'm also not especially fond of (although she is more bearable than usual). If you thought KoD was good, you'll probably really enjoy tGS.

Blicero wrote:His Pearl Saga books are horrifically bad as well. I seem to recall that the initially male protagonist gets transformed into a woman solely so that (s)he can have "hot"lesbian sex with the chick (s)he fell in love with before becoming a woman.

Oh and then, for whatever, male genitalia are always referred to as one's tender parts. So hero realizes that he has become female when he looks in his pants or something and shouts "Oh no! My tender parts!"

Terribad books.

Never even heard of those...a quick search did turn up this, though:

http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book ... lsaga.html

Last paragraph made me laugh.

I dunno, I expected better, because aside from some long-winded droning and sex scenes that weren't graphic enough, I really enjoyed the Sunset Warrior cycle. It's kind of refreshing when a fantasy-slash-postholocaust novel isn't all about white people.

Blicero wrote:

PoliteNewb wrote: 4.) Tried re-reading some of Eric V. Lustbader's Nicholas Linnear novels ("The Ninja", "The Miko", etc). Holy shit, man's misogyny is crazy-bad. He seriously cannot write a female character who isn't weak and entirely defined by the men she fucks (or who fuck her, often regardless of her feelings on the matter). It is eye-gougingly bad. This is interesting to me, considering his Sunset Warrior series had much better female protagonists. I should re-read those.

His Pearl Saga books are horrifically bad as well. I seem to recall that the initially male protagonist gets transformed into a woman solely so that (s)he can have "hot"lesbian sex with the chick (s)he fell in love with before becoming a woman.

Oh and then, for whatever, male genitalia are always referred to as one's tender parts. So hero realizes that he has become female when he looks in his pants or something and shouts "Oh no! My tender parts!"

Terribad books.

..."Oh no! My tender parts!" has got to be the greatest exclamation ever for anything happening to your dick. Should anything of the sort happen, I will try to make sure to remember to say that.


I'm currently reading Deathly Hollows. For the first time. Yes. The books came out when I was occupied with other things, so I didn't really worry about them, now I'm finally reading them this year. Took a while to think to look for a "taco" of them, but found one and now I'm putting my nook to good use.

..."Pius Thicknesse"... what the hell made Rowling think that was a good name for a character?

"the ninja" was horribly bad. There was a time when I would let writers like Lustbader *snigger* off the hook because I would think that "oh, that's how they all were" sorta sentiment. But then I read Norman Mailer or Robert Ludlum, or Mario Puzo and realize that even in those "dark ages", people like Lustbader were dicks without talent.

Prak_Anima wrote:
..."Pius Thicknesse"... what the hell made Rowling think that was a good name for a character?

I'm totally willing to let that slide.

Seriously.

I know for a fact there's a man whose parents named him Pepsi Dacola. Where or not he had it changed...

I know Pratchett said that, no, naming someone "Solid Bucket" is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Not when there was a New York banker named Preserved Fish in the real world.

A havelock is the little cloth thing on a hat which hangs down to cover your neck and prevent stuff from going down the back of your shirt.

Mind you, Rowling does a lot of 'pun' names (call them puns because they don't actually fit anything else...)

But, yeah. Some people get crap names.

Maxus wrote:

Prak_Anima wrote:
..."Pius Thicknesse"... what the hell made Rowling think that was a good name for a character?

I'm totally willing to let that slide.

Seriously.

I know for a fact there's a man whose parents named him Pepsi Dacola. Where or not he had it changed...

I know Pratchett said that, no, naming someone "Solid Bucket" is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Not when there was a New York banker named Preserved Fish in the real world.

A havelock is the little cloth thing on a hat which hangs down to cover your neck and prevent stuff from going down the back of your shirt.

Mind you, Rowling does a lot of 'pun' names (call them puns because they don't actually fit anything else...)

But, yeah. Some people get crap names.

I'm fine with pun names, but Pius Thicknesse?
Just sounds like he got named "Good Horsecock"

Since the chapters have nothing to do with each other, it doesn't mater what order they're read in, so I skipped ahead to the chapters on talking and self-control.

Holy crap. I love psychology and biology.

I finished Dune the other day.

On the one hand, I can see how it's hugely influential and very innovative for its time in the Sci-fi genre.

On the other, I can definitely compare it to Lord of the Rings. It's important yes, but thank goodness the genre has moved on since.

There were a lot of missed chances and the characters were pretty flat after a while. The Baron was basically a damned stereotype made by running down a checklist of repulsive traits for someone to have. Obese? Check. Not as bright as he thinks? Check. Flaunts wealth and power in an obnoxious way? Check. Essentially homosexual? Check.

The Baron's ancestry is even designed to be a mark against him, whereas Team Good have been high nobility for fifty generations.

Ergh.

Oh, yeah, and the eventual repetition of "Paul got stoned stupid on the spice and watched the future paths saw the jihad in most of them. This made him sad, then determined because he didn't want to be sad."

Herbert might as well have hung a lampshade on it and give it as a weather report. "This week: Chance of jihad is 60%"

I'm disappointed. It was very enjoyable at the beginning, with the political bits and the character interactions. Then Paul gets into the Fremen and I can't tell you much about what he did for the next two-thirds of the book,

I remember the interludes that -didn't- feature him a lot more clearly. The arena fight, some of the political discussion, the whole Reverend Mother Water of Life stuff...

Mind you, the ecology stuff was pretty cool.

Right now I'm reading Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus! Trilogy.

So far, it's pretty enjoyable. It can't help but compare unfavorably to Gravity's Rainbow, both in terms of style and content, but because it focuses so much on all the conspiracies and different beliefsystems, I'm still liking it a lot.

Just finished the two books in Brandon Sanderson's Wheel of Time

SAFDKFHDSKFHDSFDS I have to wait another year for the last one? Agonizing!

Kind of makes me want to pick up more of Sanderson's work.

Demon Lord of Karranda or something. You know, as much as I liked the Polgara book when I was 15, I have to say David Eddings' non-fantasy is leaps and bounds better written in every way than his fantasy.