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What are you reading Chapter 4

#301
As we approach the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli (WW I) I'm reading Peter Fitzsimons' Gallipoli, an amazing read about the idiots ruling the dying British Empire,and in particular the warlords, Lord Kitchener and Winston Churchill. The Prime Minister is more concerned with his mistress' love letters than the War Council. A study in incompetence and in-breeding lol
 
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#302
Dale D Dilly said:
Please report back when you're finished. I've wondered for some time whether the Endymion books are tacked on sequels or worthy additions to the Hyperion story. IMO the two volumes of the Hyperion Cantos constitute one of the top "literary" sci-fi novels ever written. I think anyone who loves to read fiction (no matter the genre) would love Hyperion. You get to wade through miraculously non-pretentious layers of metafiction while enjoying a heck of an awesome sci-fi ride at the same time.

I'm halfway through Dick's The Man in the High Castle at the moment and just noticed yesterday that Amazon is doing a show pilot based on the novel.
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Endymion was great. It is definitely not a cobbled-on sequel. One could read it without having read Hyperion and not be lost. It starts ~260 years after the fall of the world web. It's a narrative, told by a narrator recalling events in the first person. The narrator appears to be somewhat omnicient, but he has promised an explanation of that. So far, Rise of Endymion has been great. It picks up exactly where Endymion left off.
 
#303
HaMMerHeD said:
Endymion was great. It is definitely not a cobbled-on sequel. One could read it without having read Hyperion and not be lost. It starts ~260 years after the fall of the world web. It's a narrative, told by a narrator recalling events in the first person. The narrator appears to be somewhat omnicient, but he has promised an explanation of that. So far, Rise of Endymion has been great. It picks up exactly where Endymion left off.
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I guess I know what I'm reading next!
 
#305
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#307
Gorn said:
Has anyone else read His Dark Materials? I got through the first two books real quick and now I'm listening to the audiobook of the third at work. Fantastic story telling.
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Yeah, I read them a couple of years ago. The trilogy was listed on a 100 "must read" fiction list. I enjoyed them a lot. The middle was my fave, and the first was really good, too. Last book wasn't too bad. Enjoyed the writing.

The first book, The Golden Compass, was made into a movie, which I totally enjoyed. Not at all what I was expecting! Was hoping the whole trilogy would be made into a movie, but the church made a big stink about the books "being evil." And here in 2000's already. :/
 
#309
Revisiting Stephen R Donaldson's 1st and 2nd Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I picked up the Last Chronicles a few days ago. I wanted to refresh the characters before delving into the last one.

So far the 1st book has left me as raw as I remember when I read them all those years ago. A superior work, and a wonderful investment of my time.
 
#310
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Novel about a Latin guy who escapes his town and goes far back into the South American jungle until he comes to a idyllic spot and founds a new town. Eventually he brings his crazy family in, and then the town is discovered by Gringos and commerce (big business). And then soldiers enter the picture and there are wars and natural disasters. The book becomes a cacaphony of characters in surreal, exaggeratted dramatic situations.

The generations of his family all have children and give them simular family names to their elders, so the cast of characters becomes kind a chore to follow. Heck, the book teeters on non sensical as events and dramas unfold between people and people; man and nature; man and spirits; and animals. Kind of magical fiction drama which personally is a bit much to follow.

The guy is a great writer, but this story was a little to out there for me to enjoy. Not a huge, long book, but became a bit of a slog as the story got crazier and crazier. I much more enjoyed his novel "Love in the Time of Cholera".
 
#311
Currently reading These Are the Voyages…..TOS season 1 by Marc Cushman. The first in a three volume series about the making of Star Trek, the original series, with each volume consisting of one season of the show. Not only is it a very in-depth (and well researched) look at how the show was made, but also how TV shows were made in the 60’s in general. Backstories are given for all of the actors on the show, as well as any principal crew (writers, directors, producers, and so on), and then each episode is broken down by how the script was written, the necessary pre-production, and what scenes were filmed on which day. Lots of interesting tidbits. I have never read any of the other books published about the behind the scenes stuff from Star Trek, but from what I have heard this three volume series is about as definitive as it gets.
 
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#316
Goodbye Columbus - Philip Roth

Love story about a young middle class guy dating a higher class girl.

Also in this book were five of the author's short stories all revolving around the Jewish faith and the quandary of adapting that faith as modern times evolve.
 

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