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| Author | Message |
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virtuadept
 
(frozen)
| | #1 posted April 6, 2007 at 1:18pm (EST) |
What was the last book you read? Post about it here.
I just finished Shadowrun #4 - Drops of Corruption (from the recent line of SR novels). I really enjoyed #1-#3, but #4 is a bit harder pill to swallow. First of all, 1-3 were a trilogy and all involved mostly the same characters. #4 has a couple of cameos from a few of the characters I liked in 1-3, and one character that I didn't like so well in 1-3 plays a more central role in #4. So I guess it was a bit frustrating at first not having all my "friends" from the series in it.
The plot in #4 however, I thought was very well done, if a tad slow moving. I can see why he did it the way he did, however. It involves the mafia, and one character who was basically a good person slowly getting trapped into working for the mob and how they hooked him in. There are a lot of nasty characters in this book as one might expect from a book dealing with organized crime. Even the main character, who was as I said essentially good, was hard to like for other reasons I can't get into without spoilers. So having a cast of essentially unlikable characters didn't help my enjoyment of the story too much either.
But as I said the plot was well done, and in the end, a rewarding story that actually did have a "lesson" or whatever. There were some really cool scenes in the book, and overall I felt this was a book worth reading especially for Shadowrun enthusiasts like myself. Not my favorite in the series, but I did end up enjoying it, even though it was a slow read for me and I set it down several times before I finally got into it.
This is not a novel I can heartily recommend to anyone. If you enjoy books about organized crime, this book might be for you, with the caveat that it is completely fictional and not all that realistic, plus set in a fantasy future. If you like Shadowrun, this book is definitely worth picking up for a couple of reasons. First, it's a good in depth look at how the mafia in Seattle operates, and secondly it involves a bit of Tir Tairngire, which was interesting, and of a mage who has "burnt out" so you kind of get a feel for how that would work. This book is not a "fan fiction" work, the writing is good quality writing, but the subject matter is such that essentially it will appeal to a limited set of eyes.
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vDub
  
 
| | #241 posted September 13, 2007 at 9:05pm (EST) |
I'm finishing up Left Behind, the first book in the series. I don't think I'll read the rest any time soon because the first one got incredibly dull the closer to the end I got.
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AlphakirA
(frozen)
| | #242 posted September 14, 2007 at 5:00am (EST) |
House Of Thunder by Dean Koontz - Terribly plodding. Incredibly boring throughout and left quite a few loose ends, not that I cared about them by the end anyway...
Alpha's Wii Forum |
sgtshaggy
 
| | #243 posted September 14, 2007 at 9:06am (EST) |
vDub wrote:
> I'm finishing up Left Behind, the first book in the series. I don't
> think I'll read the rest any time soon because the first one got incredibly
> dull the closer to the end I got.
I couldn't get through the first 100 pages--terribly boring, bad writing, blah.
shags
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." - Bilbo |
Dimidium
| | #244 posted September 15, 2007 at 10:02am (EST) |
The "kids" versions of the Left Behind books are so much more entertaining IMO.
"Only an idiot fights when he knows he can't win. Balls have nothing to do with it." - Kensuke Aida from |
vDub
| | #245 posted September 15, 2007 at 10:07am (EST) |
well, I guess I'm gonna keep on reading the series for now because I don't have anything better to read atm since I've read most of the books I own already
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sgtshaggy
| | #246 posted September 15, 2007 at 11:36am (EST) |
I'd rather stare at the wall than read another Left Behind book.
shags
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." - Bilbo |
vDub
| | #247 posted September 15, 2007 at 11:44am (EST) |
I could read First King of Shannara by Terry Brooks since that's the only Shannara book I haven't read until the final one in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy as well as the graphic novel Dark Wraith of Shannara comes out. The only problem is that I tried to read First King, but it was incredibly dull.
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virtuadept
(frozen)
| #248 posted September 15, 2007 at 5:19pm (EST)
edited September 15, 2007 at 5:25pm (EST) |
i got a lot of books i'll trade you for. you like scifi? i got a bunch of em up on PBS but if you want i can pull them down to make a trade if you got some scifi style books i haven't read. my wife reads mysteries, so if you like that i got that also. This is a list of what i have on PBS but i have quite a few other scifi books not posted somewhere around here and I also have a ton of those "choose your own adventure" style books (not just that brand) that I'm thinking of unloading.
EDIT: bolding the ones that are scifi/fantasy
TITLE by AUTHOR
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Abandon by Carla Neggers
All The Way Home by Wendy Corsi Staub
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
At Risk (Kay Scarpetta) by Patricia Cornwell
Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman
Blow Fly (Kay Scarpetta) by Patricia Cornwell
Cause of Death (Kay Scarpetta) by Patricia Cornwell
Chicken Soup for the Golfer's Soul by Jack Canfield - Mark Victor Hansen - Jeff Aubery - Mark Donnelly - Chrissy Donnelly
Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die (Blackbird Sisters Mystery #4) by Nancy Martin
Dark Sky (Mira Romantic Suspense) by Carla Neggers
Deep in the Heart by Sharon Sala
Domes of Fire (Tamuli Series Bk 1) by Leigh Eddings - David Eddings
Doorways in the Sand by Roger Zelazny
Double Homicide: Boston / Sante Fe (2 in 1) by Faye Kellerman - Jonathan Kellerman
Evidence of Guilt: A Kali O'Brien Mystery by Jonnie Jacobs
Fallen Angels (Shadowrun Bk 3) by Stephen Kenson
Finders Keepers by Sharon Sala
Fire Sale (V. I. Warshawski) by Sara Paretsky
GRIPPING HAND by Larry Niven - Jerry Pournelle
The Hard Way by Lee Child
Hot Stuff by Leanne Banks - Janet Evanovich
House of Echoes by Barbara Erskine
Idoru by William Gibson
The Integral Trees by Larry Niven
L.A. Dead by
Missing by Sharon Sala
N Is for Noose (Kinsey Millhone) by Sue Grafton
New York Dead by Stuart Woods
Panic by Jeff Abbott
Point Blank by Catherine Coulter
Promise Me by Harlan Coben
Race Matters (Vintage) by Cornel West
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Retribution (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series) by Jilliane Hoffman
Shadowrun #2: Poison Agendas: A Shadowrun Novel (Shadowrun) by Stephen Kenson
The Smoke Ring by Larry Niven
The Taking by Dean Koontz
The Third Victim by Lisa Gardner
The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles Book II) by Anne Rice
Wanted by Kim Wozencraft
Whispers in the Sand by Barbara Erskine
I will answer questions about any of the bolded ones, the other ones were Kim's so I don't know about them except for Angels & Demons and Red Dragon (which are both good imho). |
crazykid
| | #249 posted September 16, 2007 at 12:28pm (EST) |
i just finished Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
I really enjoyed the book. |
nihon
  
| | #250 posted September 25, 2007 at 8:58pm (EST) |
I very highly recommend The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring by Larry Niven. They are both excellent.
--
-- Apple/Mac Forum
-- Utah Speculative Fiction Council |
virtuadept
(frozen)
| | #251 posted September 25, 2007 at 11:55pm (EST) |
nihon wrote:
> I very highly recommend The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring
> by Larry Niven. They are both excellent.
i have them for trade if anyone wants em. and agree they are good reads. not my favorite of Niven but definitely better than a lot of other lesser scifi. 
Now reading: Harry Potter 1 (I put down Sword of Shanara ... again.)
Visit virtuadept's RPG forum! or virtuadept's blog! |
vDub
| | #252 posted September 26, 2007 at 12:17am (EST) |
Sword of Shannara is tough to get into. I had been trying to get into it since elementary school and I didn't actually read it until maybe a year or so ago.
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mentalpowers
 
| | #253 posted September 26, 2007 at 3:14pm (EST) |
Six Records of a Floating Life by Shen Fu
Current Wants: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA), Phoenix Wright: Justice for All (NDS), music (see bio) |
nihon
| | #254 posted September 28, 2007 at 2:40am (EST) |
vDub wrote:
> Sword of Shannara is tough to get into. I had been trying to get into
> it since elementary school and I didn't actually read it until maybe
> a year or so ago.
Two years...not bad.
--
-- Apple/Mac Forum
-- Utah Speculative Fiction Council |
Yaverot
| | #255 posted September 28, 2007 at 11:28pm (EST) |
Ai Yori Aoshi #5 & 6
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With temporal paradoxes, why is it easier to become your own (grand-)parent, but nearly imposable to become your own (grand-)child? |
virtuadept
(frozen)
| | #256 posted October 21, 2007 at 2:31pm (EST) |
Just finished reading the latest Marvel Comics Presents, a new comic from Marvel that is sort of an anthology piece that can have characters from anywhere in the Marvel U in it. Very cool book, hope they continue to publish this one.
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vDub
| | #257 posted October 21, 2007 at 2:33pm (EST) |
I finished The Merchant Prince by Armin Shimerman a few days ago and I've since started First King of Shannara by Terry Brooks since it's the only Shannara book I haven't read yet.
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sgtshaggy
| | #258 posted October 21, 2007 at 3:38pm (EST) |
Neuromancer by William Gibson. Better than I remembered  .
shags
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virtuadept
(frozen)
| | #259 posted October 21, 2007 at 6:11pm (EST) |
i love that book. i've read it 4 or 5 times already. i thought Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive were also pretty good but Neuromancer really tops everything he's done (even tho I really like his later books too). It was just one amazing book, a true classic, such as Stephenson's Snow Crash (which also has yet to be topped by Stephenson's later works if you ask me). The last book I read of Gibson's was Idoru. I started reading Pattern Recognition and got sidetracked. Idoru was kind of weird but I liked it, it sort of had that fresh-new-universe feeling that Neuromancer had for me.
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sandpaperback
| | #260 posted October 21, 2007 at 8:07pm (EST) |
The only reading time I've had lately was dedicated to the first 4 issues of Moon Knight.
I did just pick up Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which seems interesting so far. I think I'll drop it in favor of The Golden Compass though so I can read through before the movie comes out. |
ndrake
| | #261 posted October 21, 2007 at 8:19pm (EST) |
sandpaperback wrote:
> I did just pick up Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which seems
> interesting so far. I think I'll drop it in favor of The Golden
> Compass though so I can read through before the movie comes out.
That would be a wise decision. The His Dark Materials books kick major ass. |
virtuadept
(frozen)
| | #262 posted October 21, 2007 at 8:51pm (EST) |
sandpaperback wrote:
> The only reading time I've had lately was dedicated to the first 4
> issues of Moon Knight.
just the first 4? the story arc was 6 issues iirc. that was pretty bad ass, tho. 
> I did just pick up Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which seems
> interesting so far. I think I'll drop it in favor of The Golden
> Compass though so I can read through before the movie comes out.
i never read before watch. i like to see the movie first and then read for more details.
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nihon
| | #263 posted October 21, 2007 at 10:41pm (EST) |
I recommend The Dark Is Rising books over the movie. The movie was vaguely influenced by the books, but that's about it.
--
-- Apple/Mac Forum
-- Utah Speculative Fiction Council |
sandpaperback
| | #264 posted October 22, 2007 at 6:05am (EST) |
Moon Knight: I just ran out of time. I have the others here.
Dark Is Rising: My wife was horribly disappointed when she saw the trailer and we read up on it a bit. They're one of her favorite series. |
sgtshaggy
| | #265 posted October 22, 2007 at 4:57pm (EST) |
sandpaperback wrote:
> I did just pick up Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which seems
> interesting so far.
I really enjoyed it .
shags
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SmarmySir
| | #266 posted October 23, 2007 at 11:22pm (EST) |
Wow. Virtuadept, thanks for pointing me towards paperbackswap! It's amazing! I just requested the first book of three books of The Belgariad, and the person that has it PM'ed me and said that if I want, she could send me all three of them for just the one book credit! Holy crap! Nice person!
At any rate, last book I finished was The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton... definately not one of his better books. I couldn't put down Jurassic Park and The Lost World a few years ago, and The Sphere was really good, along with Eaters of the Dead... but The TM was just... boring.
Before that, I read The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It was hyped up to me to be one of the best sci-fi books around. Don't get me wrong, I liked it and all... it just wasn't what I expected.
I'm currently reading The Gunslinger. I'll determine whether or not I'll continue with The Dark Tower series when I finish... I'm kind of mixed so far. We'll see how it goes.
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You love me longtime?
My Halo 3 service record. |
virtuadept
(frozen)
| | #267 posted October 24, 2007 at 12:37am (EST) |
you're welcome, we have gotten a lot of use out of pbs but now we're not gettng many people biting on our list 
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Potter
| | #268 posted October 25, 2007 at 1:11am (EST) |
The Sound and the Fury |
Helen
| | #269 posted October 26, 2007 at 1:18am (EST) |
I haven't been reading at all lately.
Dark is Rising is a great series btw, I definitely have to revisit it sometime. |
virtuadept
(frozen)
| | #270 posted October 26, 2007 at 4:15pm (EST) |
haven't read much lately either. reading Anita Blake Guilty Pleasures a bit tho.
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ndrake
| | #271 posted October 26, 2007 at 7:43pm (EST) |
Just finished Salem's Lot by Stephen King. Now reading Runaways by Brian K Vaughan. |
sgtshaggy
| | #272 posted October 26, 2007 at 9:43pm (EST) |
I've been piddling with some Conan short stories.
shags
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SmarmySir
| | #273 posted October 29, 2007 at 7:58pm (EST) |
Finished The Gunslinger last week. I ended up really liking it... up until halfway through I wasn't so sure. Turned out quite good.
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You love me longtime?
My Halo 3 service record. |
sgtshaggy
| | #274 posted October 31, 2007 at 4:01pm (EST) |
I picked that up the other day, about finished with it myself (The Gunslinger). I may just read through the entire series this time, if I can make it through before another book comes knocking. I'd love to finish it.
shags
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therainstormlord
| | #275 posted October 31, 2007 at 4:30pm (EST) |
HighFiveYEAH wrote:
> Finished The Gunslinger last week. I ended up really liking
> it... up until halfway through I wasn't so sure. Turned
> out quite good.
>
Funny just started it... |
virtuadept
(frozen)
| #276 posted October 31, 2007 at 6:04pm (EST)
edited October 31, 2007 at 6:05pm (EST) |
that's on my list as well. i recently ordered the 1-4 set from Zon. but i have a couple of books higher on the priority list (some Ayn Rand stuff and Harry Potter 1).
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rockonreddog
(abandoned)
| | #277 posted November 7, 2007 at 4:07pm (EST) |
Just started The Alienist by Caleb Carr and so far I really like it! Last book I read was Junky by William S. Burroughs...wasn't a fan of it.
I'm also in the middle of the Forgotten Realms: Cleric Quintet. After I finish the Alienist i'm on to book three of 5. |
virtuadept
(frozen)
| | #278 posted November 7, 2007 at 4:17pm (EST) |
Justice League of America #0 - #7 - this tells the tale of how the JLA reforms after the events of Infinite Crisis and concentrates on Red Tornado. If you didn't read Infinite Crisis this has big spoilers in it for that. And you really should.
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AlphakirA
(frozen)
| | #279 posted November 8, 2007 at 4:56am (EST) |
rockonreddog wrote:
> Just started The Alienist by Caleb Carr and so far I really like it!
Niiiiice, I mentioned how great the book was a few months ago but I don't think anyone took my advice 
Alpha's Wii Forum |
SmarmySir
| | #280 posted November 8, 2007 at 8:42am (EST) |
virtuadept wrote:
> Justice League of America #0 - #7 - this tells the tale of how the
> JLA reforms after the events of Infinite Crisis and concentrates on
> Red Tornado. If you didn't read Infinite Crisis this has big spoilers
> in it for that. And you really should.
>
Happy birthday! |
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