Welcome To Our Forums
Registration is required to post, but everyone is free to browse and read our forums. This is simply to prevent the spamming of our forums, and Registration is always free, and we will not share any personal details with anyone. You will need a valid email address to register as we need a way to confirm your registration.
You may login or register using the form to your right.
Thanks for stopping by and please enjoy your stay here on the Team Starfire website.
|
|
 | | TSWB Forums
|
|
|
| |
 | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
 | | |
|
|
|
 |
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 342
|
|
|
Just curious, anyone read any good books lately? Any recommendations? Share em here. My recents:
Mona Lisa Overdrive - William Gibson
Altered Carbon - Richard K Morgan
The Baroque Cycle (trilogy) - Neal Stephenson (I was so inspired by this read, I used one of the main characters as my name here)
Dark Tower series - Stephen King (read all 7 books last year)
In general, I like anything fiction. I like a good story, I like when science is entered into the equation. Anything Neal Stephenson has passed through my list, I was terribly disappointed when I ran out of his work. If you've never read Snow Crash, or Cryptonomicon - do yourself a favor and add it to your list of books to read.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
Joined: 1/1/0001
Posts: 0
|
|
|
Bible (New International Version)
Absolute Surrender – Andrew Murray
Discovering the Power of Prayer – Max Lucado
Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs – Bruce Wilkinson
God’s Promises for Your Every Need (New King James Version) – compiled by Dr. A.J. Gill
Good Life, The – Charles Colson
How to Be Heard in Heaven – Eddie Smith
How to Be Like Jesus – Pat Williams with Jim Denney
Peace with God – Billy Graham
They Speak with Other Tongues – John Sherrill
Wide Angle: Framing Your Worldview – Rick Warren and Charles Colson
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
 |
Joined: 7/7/2006
Posts: 2507
|
|
|
I need to start reading again.  Jack Shaftoe wroteDark Tower series - Stephen King (read all 7 books last year)
I read the first book when it first came out. Is the rest of the series a worthwhile read? I'd have to read the first book again obviously.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
 |
Joined: 7/4/2006
Posts: 1079
|
|
|
Haven't had much time for reading lately, but over the last year, not in any particular order:
Deception Point - Dan Brown
A few of Stephen White's books in the Alan Gregory series
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (along with a re-read of the previous 6)
Also re-read The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
Gary
You can't fix dead.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
Joined: 7/9/2006
Posts: 1182
|
|
|
Same here, read all the Dark Tower series a while back, which ranks as one of my favorite series, then King's Cell, and have bought the last paperback volume of Sword of Truth and Wheel of Time series, but have yet to pick them up, kinda lost interest in those two, really. Just got away from reading, partly because the last Tower book was a letdown for me, but most endings are. I guess the journey is the meaning...  Think I'll go back and read some of the old series. Maybe the Black Company, now that was a rollicking good time..
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Joined: 7/4/2006
Posts: 1079
|
|
|
Gotta say, I loved the ending of the Dark Tower. Maybe a bit predictable, but other than that I thought it was a fitting ending, if you can call it that 
Gary
You can't fix dead.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
 |
Joined: 7/5/2006
Posts: 148
|
|
|
Last book I read was Congo.. I read it before the movie came out, the book is very good and the movie blows chunks.
Sadly I haven't read much of anything since then except forums, articles, knowlgebase's and white papers ugh...
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 342
|
|
|
Kinguni wrote
Is the rest of the series a worthwhile read? I'd have to read the first book again obviously.
The first 4 books (of Dark Tower) were absolutely fantastic. Losing sleep because I was reading too much type of good. The last 3 didn't do it as much for me, but by that time I was committed to finishing the story. I still enjoyed them immensely, but they weren't up there in my list of top reads. I definitely recommend the series. It's so different than anything else I have encountered. I read Congo, and almost all of Crichton's work back in high school. I particularly remember Congo and Sphere being two of my favorites. Movie was terrible, both of them. Same with Timeline... I've gone through all 10 (or are there 11 now?) of Wheel of Time. Similar to Dark Tower, the early books were incredible stories, but my interest has dwindled in the last 3 or 4 of them. I was very sad to hear that Robert Jordan passed away before finishing the last installment. I think his family is working with someone to get it finalized based on his discussions with them and notes. Now I'm almost done with William Gibson's work, working on Richard K Morgan's work and also about 6 books deep into Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth". I recommend this highly. Sounds like we have similar taste in some of our reading Paul.. What is "Chronicles of Amber" Xaak? The fact that you have read it twice means it might be worth a recommendation. Let me know what you think.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Joined: 7/4/2006
Posts: 1079
|
|
|
Jack Shaftoe wrote
<snip >
What is "Chronicles of Amber" Xaak? The fact that you have read it twice means it might be worth a recommendation. Let me know what you think.
It's more fantasy than science fiction, although the last 5 book do blend in some science fiction. The basic premise of the series is that there are 2 true "worlds", Amber, and The Courts of Chaos. Each cast a "shadow" of themselves, and all other "worlds", including ours, are shadow worlds created by the interference pattern between the true worlds, and are subject to manipulation by the "royalty" of either of the true worlds after passing a test. The closer to one of the worlds you are the more that shadow world resembles that true world.
Not only is there conflict and politics between the Amber and The Courts, but there's conflict and politics within the royal families themselves.
The first 5 books are written from the point of view of Corwin, a Prince of the royal family of Amber. The next 5 written from the point of view of his son.
The first few books IMHO were the best, as with most series, but the entire series overall is an enjoyable read.
Edit: for clarity
Gary
You can't fix dead.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
Joined: 7/20/2006
Posts: 107
|
|
|
reading:
Cormac McCarthy - The Road
Tom Fassbender & Jim Pascoe - Five Shots And A Funeral: the short fiction of Dashiell Loveless
Khaled Hosseini - A Thousand Splendid Suns
Paul Boyer & Stephen Nissenbaum - Salem-Village Witchcraft: A Documentary Record Of Local Conflict In COlonial New England
re-reading:
T.E Lawrence - Seven Pillars Of Wisdom
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
Joined: 2/24/2007
Posts: 482
|
|
|
Khaled Hosseini - A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner
Arthur C Clarke several of his old stories
I love reading old SciFi a lot of the stuff write about has already come about technology-wise.
all of Neil Stephensons works Cyptonomicron, Zodiac, Baroque cycle etc.
 
Truth is after all a moving target
Hairs to split, and pieces that don't fit
How can anybody be enlightened?
Truth is after all so poorly lit - Getty Lee
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
Joined: 3/2/2008
Posts: 22
|
|
|
I read these over the last two years in this order,
The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams
Unabridged all 5 books plus the short story "Young Zaphod Plays it Safe" in one nice and friendly binding :) "Don't Panic"
Prelude to dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's (3 books)
Dune: House Atreides, Dune: House Harkonnen, and Dune: House Corrino
The Chronicles of Dune by Frank Herbert (6 books)
Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse Dune
Legends of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (3 books)
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, Dune: The Machine Crusade, and Dune: The Battle of Corrin
Then this came out, and I JUST finished it a few weeks ago...
Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
I'm waiting for the next two, the first is out but I want it to match the other 13 in my collection, so I have to wait for paperback :(
Sandworms of Dune, and Paul of Dune
While I'm waiting, I'm re-reading this one....
The Cyberiad Stories by Stanislaw Lem (Writer of Solaris)
Side note:
Douglas Adams Day was to be the 42nd day of the year after Douglas Adams' death in 2001.
The 42nd day of the year just happens to be my birthday!
Although "Towel Day" is an annual day to remember him, held on a completely different day, I ignore it in favor of Douglas Adams Day which has been totally forgotten to the point that I can't even find any links to even remotely mention it....
Other books I've read over the last two years are all educational, with subjects like;
Windows XP, Linux, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 Security, Network Security, HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, Adobe Dreamweaver, Microsoft Access VBA (2000, 2002, and 2003)... uh, and that's mostly it......
Q: How many roads must a man walk down?
A: 42
|
|
|  | Login to download attachment |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Joined: 7/31/2006
Posts: 45
|
|
|
Currently reading:
Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
&
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
Joined: 7/20/2006
Posts: 186
|
|
|
I got hooked on the Dragon Riders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. I think I've read all the adult stories in the series. (There were a few that were for kids.)
I've now gotten hooked on Elizabeth Moon. Just finished "The Deed of Paksanarrion", which is a fantasy.
Both my wife and I enjoyed Moon's "The Speed of Dark", which won the Hugo award a couple of years ago. It's fiction with a light dose of science. After my wife finished it, she said, "Why is it in the 'science fiction' category?"
BTW, Elizabeth lives a few miles up the road and is an interesting lady in her own right - Marine, EMT, botanist, rancher, ...
James aka McSummation
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Joined: 7/9/2006
Posts: 1182
|
|
|
McSummation wroteI got hooked on the Dragon Riders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. I think I've read all the adult stories in the series. (There were a few that were for kids.)
I've now gotten hooked on Elizabeth Moon. Just finished "The Deed of Paksanarrion", which is a fantasy.
Both my wife and I enjoyed Moon's "The Speed of Dark", which won the Hugo award a couple of years ago. It's fiction with a light dose of science. After my wife finished it, she said, "Why is it in the 'science fiction' category?"
BTW, Elizabeth lives a few miles up the road and is an interesting lady in her own right - Marine, EMT, botanist, rancher, ... Ahh, I do have some Anne MCaffery books, good fantasy stuff. Also have a lot Moon's work. also good reads. Have some complete series, if you want to trade some. I see a lot of people here have similar taste in speculative fiction. I have quite a few series, if anyone wants to trade, or even borrow the series for a while and return them, we could do something. I can compile a list of what I have, if needed. An excellent series was is Saga of Pliocene Exile, by Julian May. The first 4 books were The Many-Colored Land, The Golden Torc, The Nonborn King and The Adversary. The story continues with her Galactic Milieu Series, which is is the sequel (and prequel) to her Saga of Pliocene Exile. The second 4 books are- Intervention, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask and Magnificat. I rate it up there with the King's Gunslinger series, Glen Cook's Black Company, Asimov's Foundation series (along with later prequels by other authors) Hebert's Dune series and Stephen R. Donaldson's The Gap Cycle. Off the top of my head, those are my favorites.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 342
|
|
|
paul wrote
I see a lot of people here have similar taste in speculative fiction. I have quite a few series, if anyone wants to trade, or even borrow the series for a while and return them, we could do something. I can compile a list of what I have, if needed.
I might take you up on that Paul. I wonder if I have anything you would be interested in, I'll put a list together and PM it to you.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Joined: 11/15/2007
Posts: 1
|
|
|
Xaak wrote Jack Shaftoe wrote
What is "Chronicles of Amber" Xaak? The fact that you have read it twice means it might be worth a recommendation. Let me know what you think.
|
It's more fantasy than science fiction, although the last 5 book do blend in some science fiction. The basic premise of the series is that there are 2 true "worlds", Amber, and The Courts of Chaos. Each cast a "shadow" of themselves, and all other "worlds", including ours, are shadow worlds created by the interference pattern between the true worlds, and are subject to manipulation by the "royalty" of either of the true worlds after passing a test. The closer to one of the worlds you are the more that shadow world resembles that true world.
Not only is there conflict and politics between the Amber and The Courts, but there's conflict and politics within the royal families themselves.
The first 5 books are written from the point of view of Corwin, a Prince of the royal family of Amber. The next 5 written from the point of view of his son.
The first few books IMHO were the best, as with most series, but the entire series overall is an enjoyable read.
Edit: for clarity It's an awesomely enjoyable read, very highly recommended! You can find all ten volumes in one: Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 342
|
|
|
I know that fellow teammate "Drizzt" is a fan, but I just picked up books 1-3 of the Legend of Drizzt series by RA Salvatore. Also picked up "Accelerando" by Charles Stross and "Hammered" by Elizabeth Bear. Ran out of material from Richard K Morgan, time for some new authors..
Found a great Sci-Fi/Fantasy bookstore right around the corner from me. Pretty much exclusively those 2 generes. All the people that work there are big fans, so you can tell them what you like and they can offer tons of recommendations. Pretty psyched I walked in there today while walking past. After 2 minutes of talking, they classified me as an official "Cyber Punk Junkie". 
They accept trade-ins for store credit, so I think I found a place to dump my hundreds of books cluttering up my apartment. I love reading...
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 342
|
|
|
paul wrote
Maybe the Black Company, now that was a rollicking good time..
I think this was recommended to me today at the bookstore. Glen Cook?
I was also pointed toward Steven Erickson for my next destination for an "Epic" fantasy series. Can't remember the name of it though.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Joined: 7/9/2006
Posts: 1182
|
|
|
Yep, Glen Cook. I have the entire series, would like to read it again, it's been years since I read them.
But if you want to trade a series, then send them back we could work something up, just let me know.
|
|
|
|
| |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| | Account Login
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| | TSWB Chat
|
|
|
| |
| The Starfire Channel |
| Join us 24/7 in our Team Starfire chat room. Everyone's welcome. |
For Mirc and other IRC clients
Click Here |
Or try our new Java client! It's pretty cool.
Click Here |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|