OS Book Club Pt II

[Hammerhunker]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

For the King people, his newest novel, “Billy Summers” is solid. Haven’t gotten to the ending yet (14% left in the book according to my Kindle so I’ll return when the end happens) but it’s a King-written realistic war type story and worth a read.

Has a mention of “Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, an awesome book on its own right, and it really does feel like King paying homage to that type of war story while also weaving a pretty well done killer-for-hire story as the main plot.

There’s also a top level King Easter egg which is always one of my favorite things about his books.


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Billy Summers is my current "Walking Book" (I love listening to books when I take my walks). I was hooked from the first words and comforted by your positive remarks.

There are many King books that start strong, build quickly, only to linger and end with sigh.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Currently watching The Shield, which starts every episode with the best “previously” segment I’ve ever seen in a show, and it got me thinking: can I get a chapter in every book of a series after the first just summarizing what’s happened so far? Not so much of an issue when I’m reading series back to back like now but if I had put a year in between these Three Body Problem books, I’m not sure I’d be able to keep up.

[Hammerhunker]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I am on a baseball kick right now, just finished Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America's Pastime, by Mark Frost.

Frost did very well in stitching the microbiography into the game story. What series that was and got me to thinking that if Boston wouldn't have let game 7 slip from their grasp, the Reds could have been the Buffalo Bills of baseball during that time. Dominating team that couldn't win the big one (as they had already lost in '70 and '72).

Started Ball Four to read again for the millionth time.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

The Last Command by Timothy Zahn

Spoiler

Last book in the Thrawn trilogy, I thought it was pretty awesome. I just started listening to a Star Wars the Clone Wars watch-pod and one of the people on it was saying how disappointed he was in the idea of the Clone Wars in the movies because it's basically just a war fought by clones, whereas the way it happened in the book was clones were being pumped out too quickly before they could reach full maturation and were losing their minds and revolting as a result. There's a few things I really liked in this: the whole series Mara is on a mission given to her from the emperor to kill Luke, and I thought the way they handled it was really cool. I also didn't think it would be appropriate/possible to have an ending that didn't feel like just setup for more books but Zahn really pulled it off with the Rukh turn. Great endings for Thrawn and Mara. There are more books directly following these events by Zahn, but there's also now a whole new trilogy that he's written that is canon to the actual events of the series so next time I pick up a Star Wars book, it will definitely be those. The audiobooks are narrated by Marc Thompson and I cannot recommend him enough if he keeps up the quality from the trilogy I just listened to.

The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

Spoiler

The first book ended with Ye Wenjie trying to send a signal to the trisolarans, and this picks up from there. It's essentially a countdown to the time it will take the trisolaran fleet to reach Earth, and man is it intense. At the end of the first one, the trisolarans launched a probe at Earth that essentially shuts down any more discovery of fundamental physics laws so there is a hard stop on technological progress past a certain point. The whole idea of the Dark Forest is that space is so vast and all of these civilizations are prowling around without any real knowledge of what's around them, but once someone makes it known that they are there with you in the forest, the option basically comes down to I have to kill them or they will kill me, which is their answer to the Fermi paradox, or why we haven't found any life anywhere. If we'd found someone, we'd either have had to destroy them immediately or be destroyed ourselves, and so everyone is just hiding. Some stuff I thought was cool: even with the invasion it didn't make humanity suddenly come together as a whole in the way that it is normally shown (there are demands by developing countries to socialize technology from bigger ones rejected by bigger ones, still factions of people who essentially believe humanity is fallen and needs to be cleansed, and factions who think the trisolarans will help), humanity chooses 4 people who must come up with individual plans to save humanity and not tell anyone because the trisolarans have direct windows into Earth whereby they can see everything that is said. They are creatures that project their thoughts so they take things at face value in a way that we don't and we intend to trick them using that advantage, shenanigans ensue. Part of my strategy of listening to audiobooks is putting them on in my headphones while I play The Show, and there is a chapter in this book that I literally had to pause the game and just lay down and listen to it. Without spoiling anything, it is the one with the droplet. I just couldn't get over how awesome that chapter is going to look when these books get adapted to TV.

Death's End by Cixin Liu

Spoiler

There is a Dark Knight trilogy quality to these books (each DK movie was 12 minutes longer than the last, each of these books is like 100 pages longer than the last) but thank the reading gods that this doesn't go out like Rises. There is alot going on in this book, big time jumps where characters are hibernating and waking up in different areas and becasue of that there's a lot of exposition where they have to explain changes since the last time they were awake. That I think will be interesting to see how Benioff and Weiss adapt because obviously you have to do more showing and not telling in a tv show, curious to see how that will play out. For a long time I was worried that it was just meandering and not going anywhere, and I do think there are parts that probably could've been edited out and kept the story in tact, I really appreciate how throughout this book every time I feel like I know what's going on, I'm wrong. And then at a certain point you're just like well there's no way out of this, and I was kinda worried but the author didn't budge. I'd rank the books 2>1>3 but 2 I gave a 5 and 1 and 3 both 4's so it's not a huge gap. The main characters I'd rank Ye Wenjie in 1 just because I liked the Cultural Revolution a lot, and then Cheng Xin in 3, then Luo Ji in 2. There is a kind of love story in 3 that is a little weird and just kinda happens, but it doesn't take away from the story even if it wasn't really necessary to begin with IMO.

And with that...




DUNE!

[Beantown]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Been reading through a newfound author (for me) named Michaelbrent Collings that my Kindle recommended me and if you enjoy B-level cliche horror movies, he’s your guy.

Read three so far - The Forest (fun story, cliche couple goes into the woods kind of thing, with a fun ending), The Deep (again, cliche divers awaken an ancient evil type thing below the surface) which was the worst of the three, and Terminal (think The Mist by Stephen King with an actual answer at the end).

All quick reads and, like I said, they’re like the B, maybe, C level horror movies in story form. As a fan of those movies, these books have been alright.


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[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Check out Stephen Graham Jones. Same type of books, but maybe not as B or C horror. I finished My Heart is a Chainsaw in less than a week. Great read and certainly inspired me to seek out random slasher films. If you're a fan of the genre at all you should enjoy his work.

I have also started Dune. Not much to say about it yet, but in the back of my mind I've been trying to remember all the books I've read that have given the same character multiple names at different points in the narrative. I guess it could be considered a trope, but it finally clicked when I started reading this for some reason.

I also bought Stephen King's Different Seasons and looking forward to that for October. I'll probably try and sneak a reread of Something Wicked This Way Comes, too.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Literally just finished Dune. Good book, great book even. One of my favorites? Probably not but it was an interesting read. I can't put myself in the mindframe of the people who read this when it was revolutionary, it's kinda like Star Wars in that way...and so I must rant. When I was a kid watching the OT, Luke was just a guy forced into this huge war because his aunt and uncle had been killed and he had nowhere else to go. Obviously, you learn the family history and things start to come into place, but it didn't really occur to me that it was a "chosen one" narrative until they started going out of their way to shrink the universe so that every corner of it was touched by a Skywalker in some way. The thing I hate most about the Sequel trilogy is I never wanted Star Wars to all be boiled down to the Skywalker story, it always seemed like such a waste for such a huge universe to always come back to this one family.

All that said, I can see the Dune influence because it's the same thing here. From page 1, you're being hit with jargon and dropped into what feels like a really established universe...and then you follow Paul. I understand why people would've been blown away by the worldbuilding, it's super impressive. So impressive that I'm forced to ask...what is going on in this universe off of Arrakis? What exactly does the Space Guild do? What is the Padishah Emperor the emperor of? What are the implications of having full control of CHOAM? The one complaint I have is the way some of the (what I would consider) important events happen in the books is they just happen and they're done. For a book as long as this, you'd think they'd spend more time going over these events (there's a palace raid and kidnapping towards the end and you find out because Paul gets a message). I was watching a review of the movie by 2 dudes, one who is a Dune fan and the other who isn't familiar with it but both love Denis, both of whom gave it a 2/5 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LMuKK4wj24), and their issue was it felt like a 2 and a half hour prologue to what would be considered the actual movie. After reading this book, I'm really interested to see where they try to break it because I don't really see an easy place to break it in half and have a satisfying story. If they had back to backed it and Part 2 was coming out next year, it wouldn't be a big deal but they didn't. If anyone has read further in the series and can tell me if the scope of the series opens up after the first book, I'd really appreciate it. The universe seems so interesting but it would be as wasteful as it is interesting to keep the scope so small. Gonna flip a coin and decide between Foundation and The Sympathizer next.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I've had the same criticisms of Star Wars since they drag and dropped The Chosen One onto Anakin in the prequel. I've always enjoyed the Expanded Universe much more than the Skywalker Saga.

Man, you ripped through Dune. I'm still not done with the first part. The impression I get of the series is that it focuses more on the world and universe than a specific storyline or set of characters.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I liked it a lot, the lore especially. The audiobook is really good too, there’s a full cast so everyone has a unique voice, easy to tell apart. I’m interested to see your thoughts on it for sure, especially the ending chapters. Part of me really wants to just jump into Messiah and keep going, still might tbh. Its just a really strange book. I get the feeling Herbert himself was more interested in the universe than the story sometimes, there’s so much lore. I guess in that way the book is a success because I remember when I finished the first book in the Expanse series I didn’t really care to keep going, but I want more of this.

I’m gonna take the time between No Time to Die and the movie release to watch Lynch’s version and the miniseries.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Regarding Dune, Messiah can be seen as an extended epilogue of sorts to the first book. Then the focus changes, but stay far away from the books from his kid and Kevin J. Anderson...just awful.

I'm still reading an assortment of things with no plan. Finished Toure's oral history of Prince, 'Nothing Compares to U' and it was fascinating. Now on my third collection of essays, 'Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs' by Chuck Klosterman...after reading 'Take the Cannoli' from Sarah Vowell and 'The Best of Me' by David Sedaris. Also finishing up my read aloud of the Harry Potter series to my daughter (on Cursed Child). Crazy that it's been over ten years since I did the same for my son.

On deck is 'Man in the High Castle' and an oral history of Star Wars. Unless I change my mind.

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[KSUowls]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I've had my nose on my kindle a lot lately (RIP real pages). Quite a few of them I ended up just returning half way through the story because they were so bad. These are some of the ones that I have finished though.

Jet
Russel Blake

Action/Spy/Thriller

Spoiler

Jet is a female, former Mossad, special operative who fakes her death to start a new life. By the end of the first page you feel like your in something like the Bourne series as their is an attempt on her life, and she's instantly on the run.

Everything in the first half of this book was right up my alley. So, why wasn't it better? The problem was that the breakneck pacing of this action thriller came to a sharp halt in the middle of the story to introduce an old flame. There was an odd amount of attention given to them in this middle of this spy/thriller that didn't really fit the overall narrative.

The Oncoming Storm (Angle in the Whirlwind Book 1)
Christopher G. Nuttal

Sci-fi/Action/Space Opera

Spoiler

Kat, is the daughter of one of the richest men in the galaxy. She's also a military space captain, pretty much assigned her rank through her father paying people off, She isn't particularly happy about being given something simply because of her family name, and she intends to prove that she is worthy of the responsibility.

This trope of a son/daughter joining the military to escape their aristocratic upbringing a lot, it's pretty common. What's also common in this genre, is for the particular son/daughter to be a little too perfect. These characters are good at combat, super intelligent, beautiful, etc. So, I say that it is rather refreshing that Kat certainly does not appear to be be perfect. Aside from her looks and family backing, she doesn't have a lot going for her. She has never received any intensive combat training, and she didn't even finish top of her class in naval academy. Unfortunately this also begs the question of, how exactly is she able to overcome everything so easily each time **** hits the fan.

Also, for someone who is so concerned with proving to people that she is worth more than her last name, she makes some surprising choices that indicate she really doesn't care all that much about it.

I was hoping for something like Mike Shepherd's Kris Longknife series, but this story almost seemed to try too hard to make the protagonist unspectacular while trying to show us how spectacular she was.

The Secret Weapon (Alexander King Book 1)
Bradley Wright

Action/Thriller

Spoiler

Former CIA agent fakes his death and proceeds to....wait didn't I just talk about this one???

So, much like the story Jet above, this is about a special operative who fakes his death. However, in this one Alexander King continues to work as an unofficial government operator to bring the bad guys down.

There is plenty of action to get you through it, but there wasn't enough mystery for an "espionage thriller". It's painfully obvious what the story is trying to do every time that it tries to lead you off track.

Classroom of the Elite
Shōgo Kinugasa

Japanese Light Novel

Spoiler

This one probably isn't other people's cup of tea, but I think that these stories are so much fun (currently around 15 volumes). I read most of them a couple of years ago, and with all the duds that have been hitting kindle lately I just had to go back to something that I could easily enjoy so I started re-reading them (currently like 15 volumes).

I've seen it listed as a "Psychological Thriller", which I understand how it could be listed like that, but it really doesn't take itself too seriously (even though students are frequently expelled and have their lives ruined).

It's a story where the protagonist is 8 steps ahead of everyone else at all times, even though no one suspects him of being capable of it, and 3 steps ahead of the reader. It's the type of quick read that will make you laugh and just enjoy over the course of ~250 pages.

It's probably time that I take a break from some of these high fantasy/sci-fi stories that have largely been dreadful. So, next I think I'm going to finally tackle 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami that has been sitting on my book shelf for a few years.

[DieHardYankee26]

OS Book Club Pt II

Kindle really can be a gift and a curse. You have access to so much…but then you have access to so much. I’m not even sure if they’re still doing Prime Reads or whatever where at the beginning of every month they’d let you choose one of 4-5 books to get for free. I feel like I was adding a book every month for like 3 years and never opened any of them. They do have a Steam-like effect on piracy, at least for me. Why bother going to look for Dune Messiah when for $5 (because of credits I got for buying Dune, which was discounted for the same reason, and so on and so on) I can click a button and it’s on my Kindle in 15 seconds?

Audiobook pricing can be nuts though. Sometimes they do the “buy the ebook and get the audiobook for 7.50” which is cool but not always. Dune is like $30.

[KSUowls]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

On the plus side, I no longer have to go the Barnes & Noble, spent 30 minutes looking to buy a $20 book that I will hopefully enjoy. So, I was always very selective of what I picked out. Now, if I don't like something I simply return it and get a different one. So, I probably end up churning through 20-30 stories, reading a few chapters each, before finally finding an acceptable one. It obviously doesn't help that there is usually a reason that these stories are on Kindle Unlimited

I realized I never left a review for this one either, which I was particularly disappointed by.

Forgotten Ruin: An Epic Military Fantasy Thriller
Jason Anspach

The tagline on the Amazon page is:

Tolkien meets Shock and Awe

Orcs. Trolls. Wraith riders. Dark wizards. Together, they form an unstoppable force. Or so they thought.

Dark Army… meet the U.S. Army Rangers.

Somehow a story about a platoon of US Army Rangers in an alternate earth with orcs, trolls and other fantasy creatures managed to be nearly unreadable.

I didn't expect a literary masterpiece, but I thought that it was at least just be mindless fun. Instead, the book can be broken down like this:

90% exposition from the POV of a linguistics specialist attached to the platoon.
8% more exposition from the same person
2% actual conflict between a world of creatures who want nothing more than to kill these people in their land.

[Hammerhunker]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Kindle really can be a gift and a curse.

Choosing a book is like choosing a movie or a show. I spend more time scouring and judging the reviews. Not to sound like an OG, but it was so much easier to go to the video store or watch what was on HBO; go to the library or Borders or Barnes and Noble and grab what looked good.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

KSU reading all the C and B quality novels so we don't have to.