November's Nefarious Navigations of Notorious Novels (and other literary forms).

As I've been reading a lot of traditional fantasy lately, I'm having a change of pace and rereading Jim Butcher's Storm Front, book one of the Dresden Files.
 
I have been reading Pratchett. I got Colour of Magic in October and read it in a week, then I finished Agebraist by Banks before starting and finishing Light Fantastic and I have now started Equal Rites.
I hoping to get a lot more Pratchett for Christmas, only 34 left to go! ;) (Pratchett that is, not shopping days till Christmas)
 
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy said:
I think the Penguin Classics edition contains the other Vathek episodes.
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They may be in the more recent editions; but as little as five or ten years ago, Penguin was still publishing them separately.

Incidentally, for anyone interested (and who doesn't already know), Clark Ashton Smith wrote a completion of the third episode, which has usually been published with just that simple a title: "The Third Episode of Vathek"; though the original title was "The Story of the Princess Zulkaïs and the Prince Kalilah." As Lovecraft noted (and Peter Cannon showed in some fascinating comparisons), Vathek was also influential on his Dreamlands novel, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath....
 
I havent read a SF novel in a long while so i decided to read Inherit the Earth by Brian M. Stableford. I liked his writing when i sampled a short story of his set in the same universe.

Wanted to read a contemporary SF which isnt usually the case when i read SF because of who my fav SF authors are.
 
gully_foyle said:
Currently reading Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, very sharp and pointy.
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I liked that one, but it seems to go under the radar in his catalogue.

I finished the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy. Good stuff. Some of the humor began to wear thin by the end, but I thought it ended strongly.

Now on to the Cold-Six Thousand by James Ellroy. It's the second in his underworld trilogy, which is kind of an alternate history of the 50s-70s in the US from the point of view of the rich conspirators, mob guys, and CIA agents that pulled the strings behind the scenes. The first book, American Tabloid, might be my fav novel ever and covers the Bay of Pigs and the plot to kill JFK. This book is supposed to be the aftermath of that leading up to the inevitable assassinations of RFK and MLK. It's like a cross between the films JFK and Goodfellas in novel form. Can't wait!
 
I was at college today and found myself with an hour to spare. Finished in that time the last 30 or so pages I had remaining out of '2001: A space odyssey', in spite of my group mates' best efforts to prevent me from concentrating on the book (once I could read much better in noise).
Since a bit of a human error on my part led me to the postal office today, I had just picked up 'Mockingbird' by Walter Davis. So, lo and behold, it got kicked straight to the top of my To Read pile.
I'm really enjoying the book, and I'm almost halfway through it. I can't help but see the influence of other works, like Zamyatin's 'We', Orwell's '1984' or even Huxley's 'Brave new world' (I think this is still the closest approximation).

As I study robotics, I'm deriving an extra level of amusement out of the social situations here, since it refers nicely to something we've discussed during one of our classes a few years back.
 
CyBeR said:
I was at college today and found myself with an hour to spare. Finished in that time the last 30 or so pages I had remaining out of '2001: A space odyssey', in spite of my group mates' best efforts to prevent me from concentrating on the book (once I could read much better in noise).
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So what did you think of 2001? Gonna read the rest of the series?
 
AE35Unit said:
So what did you think of 2001? Gonna read the rest of the series?
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But of course.
I really enjoyed this book, and it brought to me that wonder that some Sci-Fi lacks: the first steps among the stars and the alien worlds that they may present to us. I'm really interested in seeing how the series expands on the points from the first book, especially since from what Clarke said in the introduction, he wasn't really meaning to write sequels to it.

I've finished 'Mockingbird' this morning and I found myself with a bag of mixed feelings. This was perhaps the one Sci-Fi book that I really couldn't separate from its time period and it got some things a bit tedious for me. But I did enjoy it, greatly even.

I'm not at a loss...I don't know what to read next.
I would try and finish up 'Lankhmar'...but somehow I feel that I want to take a step outside my comfort zone right now. Hmmm....


Edit:
Uuuuu. 250 posts...
 
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CyBeR said:
But of course.
I really enjoyed this book, and it brought to me that wonder that some Sci-Fi lacks: the first steps among the stars and the alien worlds that they may present to us. I'm really interested in seeing how the series expands on the points from the first book, especially since from what Clarke said in the introduction, he wasn't really meaning to write sequels to it.
.
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Yea 2001 is really by Clarke and Kubrick, and should be credited thusly. Of the sequels 2061, odysssey 3 is the weakest-the main interesting point is the coincidence of Halley's comet's next visit to earth in that year. But there's too much waffle and politicking in that book. 3001 the final odyssey is superb and takes up (spoiler)
Poole's story
after his death partway thru 2001
 
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Finished "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein and now onto my last my S.F. Masterworks qunitet I planned for this month: "VALIS" by Philip K. Dick.
 
I just finished The Portrait by Nikolai Gogol. Although considered by many as one of the fathers of modern Russian realism, this novella is actually brimming with fantasy elements starting with the base idea itself: A portrait so intense it manages to awake the darkest and vilest character traits of everybody who comes in contact with it.

In a way, it reminds me of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde or The Mandarin by Eça de Queirós.
 
I'm reading:
- Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
- Dead Lucky by Lincoln Hall
- House of Chains by Steven Erikson
 
jojajihisc said:
I should be getting that in the mail any day now. Any good?

I've just started Nova by Samuel R. Delany.
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Yeah, It's very interesting the way they think of ways relating to the appearance of "THE BUBBLE" and what was the reason they were "quarantined" inside it. I'm halfway through now can't wait to see what happens.
 
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