Jlawrence’s
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(group member since Mar 08, 2010)
Jlawrence’s
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from the The Sword and Laser group.
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Just finished The Making of The Empire Strikes Back (not quite as fascinating as The Making of Star Wars but still excellent), reading The Name of the Rose and The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England.
We did Dune a long time ago, and agreed it's an excellent sword and laser blend.I've wanted to re-read Lord Valentine's Castle, the start of the Majipoor series Kevin mentions, and am interested in a lot of the suggestions here: Lord of Light's been on my to-read list forever and I'm intrigued by Inversions and The God Engines.
Jack Vance's The Dying Earth is excellent and one of the first sword-and-laser mixes, I think.
Noel wrote: "Tamahome wrote: "Hey we should read Book of the New Sun...nevermind."
There are just some things one should never joke about."
Noel, Severian wants a word with you (if he remembers correctly)...
The creepy voices were awesome and must return!Veronica, when discussing the vaginal fantasy choice and the new Anne Rice book, I know you weren't suggesting you're adverse to reading about vampires and werewolves. ;) So with Anne Rice's newest, do you think now she's just jumping on a bandwagon that she was once the driver of?
Nice list - I count 18 of these I've read.Nick wrote: "Good reads needs a sign for infinite to go along side my "to-read" list. I doubt I can read fast enough to get to all the books I'd like to read before I die."
Exactly!
I re-read a fair amount, often books that I considered favorites but my recollection of has become fuzzy. Sometimes it's books that I really felt like I should have got more out of so I give them a second try. Sometimes I notice totally different things in the book (The Urth of the New Sun was an excellent recent example of this), sometimes it's a wonderful re-visit, sometimes I'm left thinking, "Er....what did I see in this exactly?"Sword & Laser in particular has inspired me to re-read a good number of things from my young-nerdling years.
That Fallen Angel achievement is dangerous because one of the SF librarians is actually a shapeshifter (dragon-form) who watches the shelves very very closely....
I had three books - I saved two, and one was marked to be merged, which I was fine with in that case.
Kid wrote: "NOT COOLNESS-Conversations were way to scattered and ADD style (need a moderator) My brain was about to explode from trying to keep track of all the cross-talk."
Actually, I really liked that aspect of it - that it flowed in many different directions like an actual group conversation does. I think that aspect of it is fine, as long as there is *also* a dedicated chunk of time spent on the main book. You're right that the main book should be covered more, but all the related-theme discussions are fun, too.
I do agree that Bonnie especially needs better lighting with her webcam setup. Kiala's problem with the mic was noticed & mentioned during the show, so they know that needs to be addressed.
The world trending of #vaginalfantasy to the Twittersphere's partial befuddlement was indeed awesome. A great start despite various technical glitches.
It was a very fun and interesting discussion (for all sexes). I liked how it ranged over a wide number of books, tv series etc., not just the one book they officially read. Plus, they outraged part of the audience with Skyrim spoilers. ;)
Yes, I met Tom through another Half Price Books store in Austin, and the gentleman in the photo was definitely not Tom. Noel, on the other hand.... 
Noel wrote: "Jlawrence wrote: "When I worked at Half Price Books, we'd find various oddities left in books people sold us, but the oddest I found was a color polaroid snapshot in some innocuous book (think it w..."Errr.....could I have my picture back please????????
Well, it was still at that Austin store when I left for California in 1999. You may have to travel to Texas to reclaim it. ;)
Kate wrote: "Lately I've found myself thinking 'I am surrounded by ants' when frustrated in work.Not good."
As long as you don't start muttering about the shape-shifting lizard people as well, you're probably safe.
Jenny wrote: "Love this book, and have a friend (waves because he belongs to S&L) who has experienced how it shifts as you read it...Intriguing, yes? Let's read it; I'm dying to read it again before the movie..."
A couple of its narrative threads are set in the future, right? Could we pitch it as a S&L read (or at least an alternative pick) to Tom & Veronica? :)
When I worked at Half Price Books, we'd find various oddities left in books people sold us, but the oddest I found was a color polaroid snapshot in some innocuous book (think it was a gardening book) of a...er, dungeon roleplaying scene (and not the RPG kind). A 30-ish, bearded, shirtless gentleman was facing a padded wall, his wrists in rubber restraints, looking at the camera sideways with a 'who, me?' expression while his dominatrix mistress stood behind him in black leather dress and black facemask, smiling, whip in hand. The scene seemed consensual, but I don't think they meant to share that memento with us.
Ed wrote: "While I'm willing to admit that parts of "Long Sun" are a little ponderous, "Short Sun" is easily the best thing that Wolfe has written in my opinion and is captivating and brilliant from start to finish. The ending is mindblowing. Unfortunately, to fully appreciate "Short Sun", one needs to read like 9 other books first ("New Sun" and "Long Sun"). "Ah, ok. Well I am looking forward to a second attempt on Long Sun and Short Sun (never finished either), and am hoping I'll notice a lot more in them this time. I think re-reading Urth *immediately* after finishing Sword & Citadel made all the difference, so maybe I should do these re-reads soon, while the New Sun stuff is still sorta in my head!
Ed wrote: "The "Solar Cycle" is just what fans call it. It's really three related series: "The Book of the New Sun", "The Book of the Long Sun", and "The Book of the Short Sun". "Short Sun" brings the whole series full circle, and the way the three series all fit together is brilliant. It's a mammoth achievement in SF literature and vastly underappreciated, IMHO, but Wolfe is a love-him or hate-him kind of author. I probably should have posted in the "qualified recommendations" thread instead. If you're the kind of reader who likes a challenge and doesn't mind having to read every single word on the page (seriously, don't skim or read too quickly) and really likes to think about what you're reading and what's going on beneath the surface, then you'll love it."What I read of Long Sun and Short Sun seemed lacking compared to New Sun, *BUT* I initially thought the same of the New Sun epilogue/fifth book The Urth of the New Sun, and a re-read of Urth right after the Sword & Laser New Sun run made me see many more of the connections between all the books, and I ended up really loving it. So that might happen with Long Sun and Short Sun too during an eventual re-read. But all the reasons you mention above make Book of the New Sun a qualified recommendation for me, even though it's still one of my favorites.
The 13 Clocks was my unqualified recommendation because it's just a delight to read - It's a short, quirky kid's book that can still cast a spell on adults, a modern take on the fairy tale that's funny without ironic-ing away its own magic, and it has some images and turns of phrase that have stayed with me since I first read it at age 11 or so. If you seek it out, try to get the version with Marc Simont's illustrations. Looks like Neil Gaiman's written the intro to a recent re-print, I'll have to track that down.
Booooksss.....in.....spaaaaaace...with spaceships!
I second the suggestions for Hyperion or something by Iain Banks. I read Consider Phlebas last year, and gather it's a good intro to the Culture series (as the main character is an outsider to the Culture society).
Also, A Fire Upon the Deep is a good juicy space opera with plenty of intriguing aliens, an epic scale, and yah, spaceships.
aldenoneil wrote: "Zooey."We all fell into aldenoneil's devilish trap. :(
