March's Marvellous Meanderings In Melodious Manuscripts.

[GOLLUM]

Apologies for the lateness of this month's reading thread.

You likely know the drill by now....so pleasse let us know what you're reading.

Cheers.

 

[purple_kathryn]

Rock Rats part II in the Asteroid Wars by Ben Bova

 

[Hober Mallow]

The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman

 

[bluespider100]

The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman

I really enjoyed that book, quite different, but i guess the ending was kind-of weak (IMO). but i'd think you'd really enjoy it,


I'm still reading Red Mars and now enjoying it, daily activities is the only thing that hampers my reading.

 

[UltraCulture]

House of Suns - Alastair Reynolds

 

[Connavar]

I read The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and i was ashamed to read Holmes again 2 years after i read the first book....

The story,case this time was not as exciting as the first book. It was less epic flashback story involved in this case. The case was more down to earth if you could say that about a series like this.

What made it work,very enjoyable read was the relationship between Holmes and Dr. Watson none of the many adapatations really do any of them real justice. I liked Watson more in this story, he was more himself,his own thoughts then in the first novel where he was there mostly to be in awe of Sherlock Homles personality,his abilities

 

[soulsinging]

Paul Kearney- Hawkwood and the Kings. I've high hopes, I haven't read a real good fantasy in a while.

The Hunger Games was excellent.

 

[elvet]

I'm just about done Madouc, the 3rd book in Jack Vance's Complete Lyonesse.

 

[Menion]

Robert A Heinlen - The cat that walks through walls

 

[alchemist]

The Hunger Games was excellent.

Now there's a political regime that needs to be taken down.

About to start On Basilisk Station by David Weber. For research purposes for my own scribblings

 

[ravenus]

I read The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and i was ashamed to read Holmes again 2 years after i read the first book....
The story,case this time was not as exciting as the first book. It was less epic flashback story involved in this case.

Wow, talk about different reactions. I was so absolutely bored by the backstory to A Study In Scarlet that I can never actually recall it and how it connected to the murder mystery in the scintillating first half.

 

[Rane Longfox]

House of Suns - Alastair Reynolds

I really enjoyed this book - one of Reynolds' best I thought. Please let me know what you think!

I've finally got around to reading Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey, and I'm really enjoying it. It's a bit confusing, but the concept is fun, and I like the story-telling style and the little details in the book make it very accomplished.

 

[Connavar]

Wow, talk about different reactions. I was so absolutely bored by the backstory to A Study In Scarlet that I can never actually recall it and how it connected to the murder mystery in the scintillating first half.

It might not be the most original backstory today but the way Holmes wrote an epic western,historical story and connected to the case in London was something special. Frankly im hungry for his historical stories after that.

The case this time was not as many twist, more real police,detective of trying to make theories that will fit in with your fact,proof. Even if Holmes is too clever sometimes to be a real detective.

What do you think of Holmes by the way ? How do you like Sign of Four,Watson ? Its such a classic series that everyone have read it seems and newbie fans like me dont get to talk about it with anyone

 

[ravenus]

Well I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and have read all (and re-read several) of the Sherlock Holmes stories by ACD. I've even read some of the further stories by his son Adrian Conan Doyle (don't bother, they're just unworthy pastiches), watched nearly all seasons of the Granada TV Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett (skipped Memoirs... because Jeremy was seriously ill and they worked around him in that season), seen and liked the new BBC series Sherlock, watched FOUR Hound of The Baskervilles movie adaptations, heard all the canon and non-canon Sherlock Holmes radio plays with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (amusing 30 min each if you don't mind that they're often very bone-headed)....you get the idea

I like The Sign of Four a great deal...I thought the back story was better integrated with the preceding narrative and much tighter on the whole. Also the story had some terrific morbid humor with the character of Thaddeus Sholto. You may also like The Valley of Fear, which like Study... has a long back-story about one of the central characters. But really, read the stories in order if you can, I feel they make the most sense and the best impact in the order they were written.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Still working my way through Theories for Everything, which just gets more and more interesting. Been reading Interesting Times by Pratchett on my sporadic breaks at work, which is why it's taking so long, but it's nearing the end at last.

 

[Mouse]

Almost finished The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt. Liking it very much. Just had to put it down though as I reckon someone's about to get killed and I don't want them to die!

 

[AE35Unit]

I am reading Greybeard by Brian Aldiss„ re-reading it after many years!

 

[ravenus]

Read Samskara - A Rite for A Dead Man by UR Ananthamurthy. Going into a Brahmin (Wiki link) colony, the plot kicks off when a blasphemous Brahmin dies and the others bicker and debate as to whether his last rites should be performed as for a Brahmin and who should perform them. The petty jealousies and avarice of the other members are exposed, and in the fate of its protagonist, Praneshacharya, the leading luminary of the colony, the book also takes a look at the nature of faith and orthodoxy and whether austerity/assumed piousness really leads to enlightenment. Damn good book on the whole.

 

[Nesacat]

@Ravenus .... just picked up Samskara from Silverfish Books. It had such an odd blurb I had to buy it. Shall now move it further along the to-read pile.

Am currently reading Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi. I love this name. It's sounds awfully sweet and edible. I picked up Wind-up Girl first but then everyone around me was talking about it so i out it aside. Then I found Pump Six. And since I have a fondness for short stories, decided to start with this as an introduction to Bacigalupi's work.

Am about half-way through and the stories are varied and well-written. The ideas are quirky and well-developed. The setting so well described them in my mind.

 

[Vertigo]

@Ravenus .... just picked up Samskara from Silverfish Books. It had such an odd blurb I had to buy it. Shall now move it further along the to-read pile.

Am currently reading Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi. I love this name. It's sounds awfully sweet and edible. I picked up Wind-up Girl first but then everyone around me was talking about it so i out it aside. Then I found Pump Six. And since I have a fondness for short stories, decided to start with this as an introduction to Bacigalupi's work.

Am about half-way through and the stories are varied and well-written. The ideas are quirky and well-developed. The setting so well described them in my mind.

I think I actually preferred Pump Six and Other Stories to the Windup Girl, Nesa, despite the fact that I am generally not much of a short story fan. I thought the topics were wonderfully varied if mostly rather dark.