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.
HighFiveYEAH wrote: > therainstormlord wrote: >> HighFiveYEAH wrote: > |>> The Drawing of the Three is fantastic, John. The Waste
> |>> Land (#3) is good so far, but hopefully it gets better.
> |>> So many random, what-the-heck things are happening,
> I almost
> |>> don't really know what's going on.
> |>>
>>
>> Drawing of the three starts out pretty crazy (in a good
> way) -- unbelievably
>> good so far (although little time to read these past
> two days due
>> to visiting relatives.)
>> ...
>
> In response to your spoiler...
>
> ...
>
Finished Drawing of the Three last night -- very good although I preferred Gunslinger more. I look forward to starting the wastelands soon.
The Wastelands starts out kind of slowly, but it gets good... reeeeeal good.
I thought The Gunslinger has been the weakest one so far. I don't know - I didn't really like it until I was a little more than halfway through it.
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HighFiveYEAH wrote: > The Wastelands starts out kind of slowly, but it gets good...
> reeeeeal good.
>
> I thought The Gunslinger has been the weakest one so far.
> I don't know - I didn't really like it until I was a little
> more than halfway through it.
>
I may have to read drawing of the 3 again at some point. I guess I had a bit of an issue with
Eddie and Odetta falling in love and the emergence of Susannah as the whole/dominant personality. I understand why those things happened and the timing of them but feel like ig could have been prolonged/cleaned up a bit. I don't know, I'll have to ponder it more.
I also found it amusing that the gunslinger ran into Randall Flagg (from the Stand). I'm aware that the stephen king universe is pretty well connected, just neat to see tidbits of it that occasionally are throwaways but still have relevance.
therainstormlord wrote: > HighFiveYEAH wrote: >> The Wastelands starts out kind of slowly, but it gets good...
>> reeeeeal good.
>>
>> I thought The Gunslinger has been the weakest one so far.
>> I don't know - I didn't really like it until I was a little
>> more than halfway through it.
>>
>
> I may have to read drawing of the 3 again at some point. I guess
> I had a bit of an issue with
> ...
Yeah, I had to re-read that part a few times, and I still don't quite understand it. It's like Mort was the bridge between Detta and Odetta, and once that was destroyed, they merged or something along those lines.
#366 posted January 3, 2008 at 2:45pm (EST) edited January 5, 2008 at 10:11pm (EST)
Has any read the Kazik's Polish Navy book?
I have and it's an amazing book based on a true story written with historical accuarcy and more. It's about a man named Kazik from Poland who joined his country's Navy, sailed around the world during World War 2, spent time in Russian and German prison camps, got married, had children, and eventually ended up settling in Florida. You can view more information about it at terrasanctapress.com
That's where I got my copy from for the best price around.
I have recently finished getting caught up on current Spider-Man comics, including the latest story arc "One More Day" and the now infamous Amazing Spider-Man #545. I posted up some of my thoughts about it on my blog. It is full of spoilers, so if you care about reading the story yourself first, I suggest you wait to read my post after you've read the issues. Otherwise, feel free to find out why all the comic sites are in nerd-rage mode.
the movie "I am legend" was well made and Will Smith did an amazing acting job. I plan on picking up the book this week and will write a review for it.
#378 posted January 8, 2008 at 8:35pm (EST) edited January 8, 2008 at 8:35pm (EST)
I'm currently reading Clapton: an Autobiography.
As one might expect, it isn't particularly well written. There are also some parts of his early life that I would've liked more details on because his childhood has clearly had an incredibly large influence on him. However, it's still very enjoyable thus far. I've currently read through the very early days of Cream. It's been giving me a large number of songs and artists that I'd like to check out.
Trade or sell me a Wavebird controller or Phoenix Wright: Justice for All.
That was pretty cool but I'm not sure I'm going to collect the issues as they come out. May wait for TPBs. Then again they may never come. So... decisions, decisions.
If you liked this try Black Summer by Ellis, or also anything by Garth Ennis will be similar taste stuff (like The Punisher MAX series, Preacher, etc.)
#382 posted January 10, 2008 at 3:05pm (EST) edited January 10, 2008 at 3:06pm (EST)
I just finished up The Belgariad series (five books). They were very, very good. I'm actually kind of sad it's done because I got really attached to the characters... good thing the next series (The Mallorean) is similar and has a lot of the same characters. However, I'll get to that once I finish up Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. I'm about to start book four, Wizard and Glass.
After I finish The Dark Tower I'll either start The Mallorean or George R.R. Martin's Wild Card series. Heard good things about that... or maybe I'll start reading The Neverending Story. Gah! Too many books!
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virtuadept wrote: > ndrake wrote: >> Gravel #0 by Warren Ellis
>
> That was pretty cool but I'm not sure I'm going to collect the issues
> as they come out. May wait for TPBs. Then again they may never come.
> So... decisions, decisions.
>
> If you liked this try Black Summer by Ellis, or also anything by Garth
> Ennis will be similar taste stuff (like The Punisher MAX series, Preacher,
> etc.)
>
>
i usually get TPBs, but wanted to try out http://heavyink.com, so I subscribed to Gravel. I liked this one and am looking forward to #1.
#386 posted January 18, 2008 at 2:19pm (EST) edited January 18, 2008 at 2:20pm (EST)
Took a break from The Dark Tower books and re-read A Walk In the Woods by Bill Bryson. I liked it a little more the second time trough... though the digressions and history lessons can be a bit long-winded at times, and sometimes even a little self-righteous. It's all very interesting though.
Just finished up Lord of Chaos by the recently deceased Robert Jordan. Can't wait until the final book in the series is finished by Brandon Sanderson next year.
#392 posted February 5, 2008 at 6:53pm (EST) edited February 5, 2008 at 6:54pm (EST)
Finished Wizard and Glass by Stephen King early last week. It's book four in The Dark Tower series, and is easily the best of the first four.
I'm over half-way through Michael Ende's The Neverending Story, and I must say, it's quite interesting. It's also strange because the first (and by far the best) movie is only based on the first half of the book. I see elements of the second movie in the second half of the book, but the second and third movies were utter crap, so I don't really care.
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I just finished reading the first volume trade paperback of the Star Wars: Legacy comics by Dark Horse Comics. This is a kick ass comic series. Set a few hundred years after the Battle of Yavin and the defeat of the Emperor by Luke Skywalker and friends, Legacy follows the life of a descendant of Luke called Cade Skywalker. Cade has led a very rough life and is not exactly friendly with the Jedi even though he has had Jedi training and is a force user. The Star Wars galaxy is now under domination by a powerful faction of Sith who have hunted and destroyed almost all of the Jedi. To complicate things, there is also another "empire" -- remnants of the old "good" empire that ruled before the Sith took over. This "good" empire has force users called Imperial Knights, who are sort of neutral whereas Jedi are good and Sith are evil. This is one kick ass setting with some very cool characters like the hawt bad ass female twi'lek sith named Darth Talon. If you like Star Wars you need to be reading this, it rawks.
Just finished the first story arc of Amazing Spider-Man One More Day (546-459). This is a really awesome spider-man book now. It's not too heavy and puts the fun back into the book. I am digging it a lot. Now is a perfect jumping on point for new fans of Spider-Man or even old fans who haven't been keeping up lately. Grab it!
