Dragons & Jetpacks discussion
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The last book I read was...
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Veronica
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Jul 27, 2016 09:18AM

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The writing in Way of Shadows wasn't particularly great, but the story and twists were a lot of fun. Looking forward to completing the trilogy and some point.
I really enjoyed the last act in Leviathan Wakes. The book was up and down for me at times, but also looking forward to continuing this series.


I got this in the post last week. I'm really looking forward to picking it up.
Veronica wrote: "Finished A Natural History of Dragons last night and plan to start Saint's Blood today."
I used that for part of my Thor challenge. Riordan does a good job of making those books enjoyable by adults.
I used that for part of my Thor challenge. Riordan does a good job of making those books enjoyable by adults.
I used that for part of my Thor challenge. Riordan does a good job of making those books enjoyable by adults. ..."
Me too; and I wanted to read it, anyway. They're educational, too. I watch any mythology documentary, and I remember who all the gods are.
Me too; and I wanted to read it, anyway. They're educational, too. I watch any mythology documentary, and I remember who all the gods are.


I found this slow to start, but was glad I hung in there to finish this first book in the Farseer Trilogy.
agreed Gary, I just finished the trilogy recently and am happy I finally got to it. Regal certainly makes a good villain and you only hate him more as the trilogy progresses. I have purchased the next two trilogies and will definitely continues on with them.

He is nasty in the evil Dread lord kind of way but as the books progress more in the you wish you could jump into the books just to punch him in the face kind of way.


What novel come next....I need to dig through my boxes to see if I recall correctly and have the second Farseer book from when they first came out in trade paperback.


A friendly worker at one of the book company booths at Comic-Con convinced me to buy a copy of Ancillary Justice - it was 50% off, a good buy! I have too many books waiting to be read already, but her teaser description really intrigued me: issues of gender, artificial intelligence, etc.

I was interested because people really seem to like it and its something different than I am used to with SciFi. Once I started reading and got a bit of Borg and Data vibes I was convinced I needed to finish it.
Greg wrote: "Chakara wrote: "Finished listening to Ancillary Justice I downloaded Consider Phlebas but I'm thinking of doing a urban fantasy before continuing with some more scifi..."
The gender thing drove me up the wall, I didn't like the way it was handled it all...I did like the story though and read all three books
The gender thing drove me up the wall, I didn't like the way it was handled it all...I did like the story though and read all three books

I found several things interesting but I understand why people would have problems with it. One was certainly the gender thing I study Mandarin and the word for him, her, them, it etc is all the same, it just looks different when you write it. I also study Korean and Japanese and its kinda impolite to not use the person's name when you know it or their title. So I guess that wasn't too hard for me to adjust to.
I also liked that the ones in power seemed to be of color and darker skin seemed to be more appealing to the masses ( prob didn't say that correctly I'm so pooped). It's the opposite of our own society in which people treasure pale skin etc. however, those differences can't make the story stand on its own and I found the characters personalities interesting as well. I look forward to reading the next book so I agree with you I'll continue reading because of the story.

Sounds interesting Chakara; it's interesting the differences in other languages, neutral pronouns, etc. I noticed in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet the use of "xe" as a neutral pronoun (instead of he or she) too.
For a few years I taught English as a Second Language to adults in the school district, and it was fun when the students explained to me some of the differences. Sounds like you know several languages - impressive!!!

ha, I said I study them not that I'm very good. But, i do find the differences interesting as you've said.



Now reading

I finished Winter on audiobook. I had insomnia the other night, so I listened to the last two discs lying in bed.

how was comic con Greg?! Id like to hear about your experience!

how was comic con Greg?! Id like to hear about your experience!
..."
I've been going every year with a friend of mine since the late 1990s Jessica! I love it! It's fun to meet some authors, and there's a lot of stuff it's hard to find elsewhere - there's some artists' booths I go to every year, and there's some great panels about TV shows/movies too.
My favorite Comiccon moment ever was meeting writer Lynda Barry a few years ago - such a wonderful, down to earth person ... so great to talk to her for a few minutes! She even drew a little picture in the front flap of One Hundred Demons for me. Such a sweet person!
The only bad thing is that this year for the first time my friend and I both lost the lottery for tickets; so I was only able to go on Sunday, and my friend wasn't able to go at all. I still enjoyed it though!


I started reading A Feast for Crows

I'm still working on:
- Shadow of the Giant

- The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2015


how was comic con Greg?! Id like to hear about your experience!
..."
I've been going every year with a friend of mine since the late 1990s Jessica! I love it! It's fun to meet so..."
Thats a great Lynda Barry encounter! I remember my sister had the poster of Poodle with a Mohawk when we were growing up, i loved it!
Sounds like you had a great time, I'm sorry your friend wasn't able to join you though. It seems to have gotten so huge in recent years, I am sure you were happy to get in yourself.


how was comic con Greg?! Id like to hear about your experience!
..."
I've been going every year with a friend of mine since the late 1990s Jessica! I love it! It's f..."
Thanks Jessica! :)

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells (4 ★): a lot of fun to read with fast pacing as well as some interesting ideas; almost doesn't feel like it was written in the late 1800's - the pacing is much more modern
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs (2.5 ★): I was a bit disappointed in this one to be honest. The racism in the depiction of the Negress Esmerelda was grating, and much of the dialogue was extremely stilted. "Tut. Tut," a million times. Not much character depth either. Parts were fun to read but it just didn't feel at all like the classic I was expecting. Quite dated in my opinion.
The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West (4.5 ★): This 1918 novella about a soldier in WWI suffering from shell shock was absolutely brilliant! It's a meditation on so many things: psychiatry and mental "health" (I can see a germ of the themes in the much later Equus here) and what makes life meaningful. The characterizations of those back home are brilliant, very nuanced. Beautifully written too and a great read. I read the whole thing in two days - it was so good!

Sarah wrote: "Just finished up my first Agatha Christie book last night, "And Then There Were None." It was a pretty good book and I intend to read more of her stuff."
I love Agatha and that was one of my favorites. She's one of the authors I've read all the works of.
I love Agatha and that was one of my favorites. She's one of the authors I've read all the works of.
Veronica - I sobbed! I cannot bring myself to read it again even though I want to, I was completely emotionally drained by the end.

I cut my adult-book reading teeth on Agatha as my Mam had the full set. Most of them are good. I loved And Them There Were None - though it had a much less politicaly correct title when I read it. She was a bit of an old colonial!

I like Agatha Christie also. It's easy to read, most of the time the bad guy is not who you expect and I like the old-fashioned way.


Ditto. I lost a sister to cancer 13 years ago and even though I was quite a bit older than the boy's age in the book, the author managed to hit all the emotional notes perfectly. I thrust the book at my husband and told him he absolutely HAD to read it.

A fun read Sarah - I loved it!

I did too Margo, and I remember hearing about that older title - definitely not PC!
Speaking as an Indian myself, I never had a problem with "Ten Little Indians." No one I know who has any of the blood objects to Indian. Native American, in my view, is anyone who was born in America. But I'm simple. Don't get me started on the Washington DC football team. I find both parts of the name offensive as an Indian and a writer.
I thought that was being changed. They are quick enough moving teams around surely a name change is nothing
Paul wrote: "I thought that was being changed. They are quick enough moving teams around surely a name change is nothing"
Nope. The owner is a dick and refuses. Categorically.
Nope. The owner is a dick and refuses. Categorically.

Actually that wasn't the original title; that was another title that was chosen as a less offensive alternative in some editions. Eventually "And Then There Was None" was settled on across the board because "Ten Little Indians" was also seen as in questionable taste. I don't want to repeat the original title here because it uses an ethnic slur (at least in the US it is) - See Wikipedia entry: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_T...

Yeah, the old colonial attitude comes through in many of her books, as in a lot of period fiction I've read. She was just a product of her class and time. Racism was as natural as breathing!
I have just finished The Fifth Season which kinda blew me away. I'm heading over to group discussion thread on it to see what you all thought of it ;-D
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