ME: Who's going to read the rest of the series?

[John (Taloni)]

I was sufficiently impressed by the first book that I'm going to go on to the second. Well, pending LA Public Library getting it to me off hold, which should be soon.

Anyone else? The book wasn't perfect, not by a long shot, but it was fun enough to continue.

[Tasha]

I did like the book, but I already have so much on my to read list that it's giving me anxiety. If I were a kid again I would have rushed to the library the day I finished to get the next book, but I'm old. If it goes on sale on Amazon I will provably pick it up: I can't resist those.

[Trike]

I liked it but I’m not burning to continue. If you report back that the sequels are spectacular, I’ll reevaluate.

[Ruth]

I’ve already read the whole series before and I wholeheartedly recommend the sequels to anyone who enjoyed the first book. Reeve’s writing matures as he goes, and there’s plenty more post-apocalyptic steampunk fun.

There’s also more emotion and drama. The ending of the final book had me ugly sobbing.

[Matthew]

I really enjoyed this book and was very hard to put down. I will continue on with the rest of the series just because I want to know where it goes from the end of this book.

[Adam]

I loved the idea of Municipal Darwinism, but the rest of the book was only ok to me. None of the various parts of the world seemed to ever flesh out and the only characters I liked both expired...so I think I will stop here (although the worship of Clio {as a history major} was super exciting!) However, I have already put it on the list of book recommendations for my middle schoolers this year.

[Michel]

I enjoyed the first book much more than I expected since I hadn't even heard of it before the movie trailer came out. After finishing it I'm interested in reading the rest of the series but it'll probably be as a side read or when I don't know what else to pick up.

[William]

It a good fun book overall and I definitely intend to read the rest – though I’ve got a bit of a backlog as I’m slowly working through The Invisible Library Series (paced partially due to budget) and I’m currently reading (and loving) the sequel to The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter.

I also really have to get round to reading the sequels to The Rook and We Are Legion We Are Bob sometime.

So yes I want to read the next book...

[Ruth]

Vaguely spoilery post but no specifics... I’ll put it behind tags anyway...


(view spoiler)[ For those bemoaning the death(s) of your favourite character(s), don’t forget that in this universe we already know that they have (re) discovered a form of resurrection. (hide spoiler)]

[Viola]

I finished the 4th book in the series back in 2008 so yes, I did continue reading the series. I loved it.

It is a shame that Hayao Miyazaki retired because I felt as though this book or series would have been perfect for him to adapt.

[William]

Viola wrote: "It is a shame that Hayao Miyazaki retired because I felt as though this book or series would have been perfect for him to adapt. "

Oh yes...yes indeed! :-)

[John (Taloni)]

Aaaand Predator's Gold has come in at LA Public Library. I am halfway through Lock In but that is a fairly short book. Bring on the moving cities!

[Joel]

My opinion is kind of biased as it’s one of my favorite series, but it only gets better, and I love the ending. And if Shrike is your favorite character, the prequel trilogy starting with Fever Crumb gives his backstory.

[Troy]

I thought Mortal Engines was okay but really think Predator's Gold is the better book. I probably would have gone straight into book #3 if it had been available on audio from my library.

[Imbunche]

I'm not going to continue the series. It was an alright read, but too much of a children's book for my tastes.

[Francis x]

I am on book 4 of the series and arrived at the remain of London.

[John (Taloni)]

Francis - Glad to have you in the thread. I haven't started book 2 yet. Please don't spoil. Or if you want to, use the usual spoiler protect (remove spaces)

Like this:
< spoiler > Spoilertext spoiler >

To get this:
(view spoiler)[ Spoilertext (hide spoiler)]

[AndrewP]

Imbunche wrote: "I'm not going to continue the series. It was an alright read, but too much of a children's book for my tastes."

Same here. There are too many other good books out there to continue with these.

[John (Taloni)]

Yeah...I'm short on reading fodder and these rise to the level of "okay." I'm now halfway through the second book and it is just fine as insomnia reading but not particularly compelling. Big on ideas, short on execution. I am puzzled by one character arc and outright loathe another character. And that's not "love to hate" like Darth Vader, it's just "bleah."

Anyway, given my short TBR pile I am likely to finish all four. Might even see the movie to see the cities moving on screen. They've got to do a better job of it than the bizarre miscast of a moving city in John Carter.

[AndrewP]

John (Taloni) wrote: " They've got to do a better job of it than the bizarre miscast of a moving city in John Carter."

Thanks! I knew I had seen that in a movie somewhere but couldn't remember which one:)

[Iain]

The book is a bitt bleah. Too many books and not enough time to read this,

[John (Taloni)]

^ Whereas I've got too much time and not enough books, so... *shrug*

[AndrewP]

John (Taloni) wrote: "^ Whereas I've got too much time and not enough books, so... *shrug*"

Unless you have a time machine how is that possible? :)

[Tasha]

^^ I don't get this either. I have (I'm not kidding, I recently counted) nearly 2,000 TBR books. If I never meet another book in my life, I'm probably set.

[John (Taloni)]

Well, FWIW I am very careful with my TBR pile. I only pick up books I am about to read. Others stay in the nebulous back of my consciousness and make it to the fore if something makes me think of them.

For instance, I read Poul Anderson's Polesotechnic League books as a youth. When I read the Time Patrol books (and Beer Rocket) I considered reading them again. I may yet, but it hasn't hit critical mass. OTOH when I saw a listing for Riverworld that reminded me of World of Tiers which I did reread (and nostalgia was not all it was cracked up to be.)

Then there's the "Culture" books. I wasn't impressed by the first one, and the second one looks gory and violent, exactly what I don't like in a book. Yet so many people love the later ones (and Elon Musk said he loved Hydrogen Sonata) that I'm going on to The Player of Games next. We'll see how that strikes me. Alastair Reynolds, love his use of physics especially lightspeed travel, but I was so underwhelmed by Chasm City that I'm not all that interested in the followup. But a lull might hit and I'll pick it up.

I'm always leaving room for the unexpected joy. The Bobiverse was one of those. Never heard of it, liked the first one and went quickly to the other two. Kate Danley, The Woodcutter was okay but I love love love the Maggie for Hire books. When something like that hits, BAM! I am off and running.

[Rick]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Well, FWIW I am very careful with my TBR pile. I only pick up books I am about to read. Others stay in the nebulous back of my consciousness and make it to the fore if something makes me think of t..."

Player of Games isn't violent. There is one particular graphic description of violence but the overall plot isn't violent at all.

[Tasha]

I have Consider Phlebas, but people keep telling me not to start with that one. That may be why I haven't read it yet.

[AndrewP]

Tasha wrote: "I have Consider Phlebas, but people keep telling me not to start with that one. That may be why I haven't read it yet."

In my opinion it depends what kind of reader of Science Fiction you are. If your a casual reader then The Player of Games is a good place to start. But if your a serious SF reader then you will want to start with Consider Phlebas.

[Rick]

(rolleseyes) That's an insulting and simplistic classification Andrew. It's also wrong.

Phlebas is VERY different from the rest of the series both in perspective and in tone. In a way it's kind of claustrophobic which doesn't work for some.

Player gives the reader a better sense of the Culture and the universe in which the series is set. I have, over and over again, seen people bounce of Phlebas and dismiss the series then, when they check out Player, realize that the first book just wasn't for them or they were not in the right frame of mind to tackle it. I also know people who loved Phlebas and feel it's the best book in the series but that's a minority point of view so I usually are recommend that people at least read both books, then decide if the series is for them.

[John (Taloni)]

Yeah, I pretty much disliked Consider Phlebas. However, the "game" referenced in that book was so violent and dysfunctional that I'm not sure the second will be better. Plus, there's just silly characterization in Phlebas, especially at the front.

Now I loves me some giant space habitats and galaxy spanning civilizations, so it wasn't a total loss. But considering how much people love the later books, I'm kind of wondering when the awesome will kick in. With Protector it was within pages, same with Ringworld.

[Rick]

Player is nothing like Phlebas. I'm unclear from what you're talking about whether you've read Player or not.

People who only love the later books misunderstand the entire series. That's not to say that there aren't better and worse entries or that we all don't have our faves, but the series is complex and to fully get what Banks is saying in it you can't just read the last entries.

PS: Musk emphatically does NOT understand the Culture universe. In fact, he misses the entire point. See, for example, https://twitter.com/cstross/status/10... and other tweets around that time period to him.

[John (Taloni)]

I'm at about the 90% mark of the second book. I'm finding it decent reading fodder. There's some good callbacks to the previous book, and some new villains that work well within the given framework. It's just not grabbing me. Don't want to insult those who love this series, but the whole scenario just doesn't gel for me.

Book 3 hasn't come available yet and I may move on to something else. None of the other books I've tagged have come off hold, but Altered Carbon is available. Hmmmm....

[John (Taloni)]

Still waiting on #3 to come off hold at LA Public Library overdrive. Oddly enough, it has dropped from 2 copies available to 1. In the meantime I picked up Altered Carbon. It's...certainly a different feel.

[Daryl]

I'm on to the second book now. These are enjoyable and super fast reads so I think I'm actually going to do a rare thing and just read them one after the other.

[John (Taloni)]

^I like to do that with series' if I can. Makes it easier to catch references or more obscure plot points. But I also prefer to get books out of the library and #3 and 4 are taking a whole lot of time.

The ending of #2 was a good deal better than the rest of the book if you ask me. Definitely ended on a high note.

[John (Taloni)]

Well hrumph! LA Public library went down from two books to one while I was at position #1. I read all of Altered Carbon while waiting and finally gave up.

A year or so back I got a County of LA card and lost it a few months later. Hadn't written down the account number. A quick look on their overdrive showed that they had Book #3. I found a nearby branch and stopped in after work. Got home and checked out the book. Also put the card number in a file so I don't lose it again. Gonna be nice to have two options again. Well, technically three, but my local library can't afford a wide selection.

[John (Taloni)]

So, Book 3. Now 16 years later and some new characters. This one follows the last one in being tedious for the first 80% and then getting to a pretty good ending. The ending drags the book up from a 2 to a 3.

Since there's only one left I suppose I'll go on and finish the series. But if this was ongoing like, say, Wheel of Time, this would be where I drop out.

[Emmanuel]

I'm thinking about it! This first book was very enjoyable and easy to read.
I just need to find more tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime :)

[John (Taloni)]

The fourth book has a pretty good payoff for the series. I found it a bit of a slog getting through. But if you found the first one very enjoyable then the rest should be fun. I found the first one modestly enjoyable and the rest about the same.