Book Hauls!

[Nesacat]

Nikitta ... I will do. It sounds pretty good thus far.

Allegra ... the cover looks gloomy but it's a very good read indeed. Enjoy.

 

[Taltos]

I can proudly say I've bought only 1 book this year King's "Gunslinger" (technicaly two but the second one was a present to a friend) ... yay I'm kicking my addiction

Still I have 1 book waiting for me in the bookshop and 5 more ordered and in delivery - but thats not bought books ... right

 

[Nesacat]

It is too Taltos. They all count as bought books.

 

[Taltos]

At least the book waiting in bookshop doesn't count, I haven't paid for it yet

 

[littlemissattitude]

Interesting thought that, LMA. Is there really a gene that controls the part of the brain we label "Imagination"? Or does growing up with parents that both write influence development of talent? Or is it a combination of the two?

That is an interesting question, isn't it Pyan? I suspect that it has to be at least half nurture, if not more. Simple encouragement probably has a lot to do with it. But I wouldn't be surprised if there is some "nature" to it as well. After all, he isn't the only "kid of writer(s)" around now. Married mystery writers Jonathan and Faye Kellerman now have a son who is published, and Anne Rice's son has published at least a couple of novels that I'm aware of. I haven't read any of them, so I don't know how good they are. I'm looking forward to reading Heart-Shaped Box. If the excerpt I read online is any indication he does have some talent.

 

[Pyan]

There's also Todd McCaffrey and Brian Herbert.............hmmm, needs more thought!

 

[bruno-1012]

That is an interesting question, isn't it Pyan? I suspect that it has to be at least half nurture, if not more. Simple encouragement probably has a lot to do with it. But I wouldn't be surprised if there is some "nature" to it as well. After all, he isn't the only "kid of writer(s)" around now. Married mystery writers Jonathan and Faye Kellerman now have a son who is published, and Anne Rice's son has published at least a couple of novels that I'm aware of. I haven't read any of them, so I don't know how good they are. I'm looking forward to reading Heart-Shaped Box. If the excerpt I read online is any indication he does have some talent.

It isn't only limited to this field.

In my family its the building/engineering field that has been followed from 2 of my great grandfathers on both mum & dads sides down to my generation (the next one hasn't got old enough to choose yet). Both of my brothers, myself and a couple of cousins are all in the field.

How about things like doctors kids becoming doctors... teachers - teachers.

Anyway - just so glad to be back in the UK with my library to hand again. Won't stop me heading out to the bookstore tomorrow and going a bit wild though...

 

[Nikitta]

I've just ordered these books online:

Blindsight, Peter Watts
(Saw it recommended by the author John Scalzi on his blog, looked at it and found it had the "Search inside this book" option. Read the pages available. Had to have it.)

Sun of Suns, [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1] Karl Schroeder
[/SIZE][/FONT](Saw it recommended by the author John Scalzi on his blog, looked at it and found it had the "Search inside this book" option. Read the pages available. Had to have it.)

Salt, Adams Robert
(Saw it recommended by someone at the Chronicles in a thread discussing The Dispossessed, looked at it and found it had the "Search inside this book" option. Read the pages available. Had to have it. Ah! It was Warlock who recommended it!)

The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan
(I had read a bit of it before and it seemed good enough that I want to buy it, myself)

"I Sing the Body Electric" and other stories, Ray Bradbury.
(Found it!)

 

[HoopyFrood]

Right, here we go, minor rant (a good one, though!) coming up...

I went into the city centre to some shopping today and my friends told me of a great independent book shop, so we decided to visit it. It was amazing, so many books and all so cheap! Needless to say I had to take a moment to compose myself when I first walked in! Damn, that is exactly the kind of shop I'd love to own, with huge shelves stocked full of books. And so many books!! I couldn't decide what to buy!
But in the end I opted for:

The Knight of the Swords - Michael Moorcock
The Queen of the Swords - Michael Moorcock
The King of the Swords - Michael Moorcock
(Well, I thought, seeing as they were all there, I might as well get them all...because they were only £1.50 each! And they're the crazy retro covers from the 70s!)
Dragonsdawn - Anne McCaffrey (for a mere £1.90!)

Boo yah! I will definitely be visiting that shop again!

 

[williamjm]

I wasn't really intending to buy into any books today, but happened to wander into a bookshop (anyone else find it hard to walk past them?) and they had a big sale of (new) books for £1 each.

I got:
Joe Abercrombie - "The Blade Itself"
Joe Haldeman - "The Forever War"
Frederick Pohl - "Gateway"
Kurt Vonnegutt - "The Sirens of Titan"
Philip K Dick - "Ubik"
Richard Matheson - "I Am Legend"

I almost got a copy of Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination" as well, but somebody picked up the last copy just after I spotted it

Considering there were also a number of other books I'd have bought at that price if I didn't have them already ("A Feast For Crows", "The Lies of Locke Lamora", "Lord of Light") I'm willing to declare this as being one of the best booksales ever

 

[ravenus]

Will be traveling so got myself Jingo by the almost frighteningly dependable Terry Pratchett. Keeping it under wraps because I don't want to end up finishing the thing before I actually get on the train

 

[j d worthington]

The Knight of the Swords - Michael Moorcock
The Queen of the Swords - Michael Moorcock
The King of the Swords - Michael Moorcock
(Well, I thought, seeing as they were all there, I might as well get them all...because they were only £1.50 each! And they're the crazy retro covers from the 70s!)

I must admit that I'd put the Corum books rather far down on my list of Moorcock; this was a period when he was pounding out things at an unbelievable pace (sometimes as much as three books in a week or two!) in order to keep New Worlds magazine afloat, and it often shows with continuity problems and the like. However, they do have some good things about them, and I like the character of Corum. But I think I'm more interested, really, in Prince Gaynor the Damned and his relationship to the Champion..... I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts on this one, Hoopy; but I will warn you that, if you find this one lacking, it's far from Moorcock's best.....

 

[HoopyFrood]

I shall bear that in mind, thanks J.D

But at that price, I wasn't going to say no! And the great thing about this little bookshop is if I really do hate the books, I can return them and get half my money back (not that I probably would, how could I ever return a book?! (well apart from back to the library, of course )) Blimey, I love that shop.

 

[nixie]

I'm drooling, had a delivery from Amazon yesterday had forgot I'd ordered anything, it has been a few month since the order was placed.I got, The King of Elflands Daughter, The Iron Dragon's Daughter, Lud in the Mist and Imperial Assassin.

 

[j d worthington]

I'm drooling, had a delivery from Amazon yesterday had forgot I'd ordered anything, it has been a few month since the order was placed.I got, The King of Elflands Daughter, The Iron Dragon's Daughter, Lud in the Mist and Imperial Assassin.

That's quite a nice haul there, Nixie! Should definitely have you doing a little happy dance by the time you've gone through those.....

 

[Aleksei]

I bought quite a lot of books last week, I just can't keep away from them . Well, here's the haul, small "review" included!

Command Decision - Elizabeth Moon | Not read
Fearless - Jack Campbell (John G Hemry) | Not read
The Elysium Commission - L E Modesitt | Not read
The Lighthouse Land - Adrian McKinty | Not Read
The Road - Cormac McCarthy | Really good
The Tower of Shadows - Drew Bowling | OK
Plague of Memory - S L Viehl | Good
Crystal Rain - Tobias Buckell | Good
A Taste of Magic - Andre Norton and Jean Rabe | Good
Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe - James M Ward | OK
Crossover - Joel Sheperd | Really good
The Finest Creation - Jean Rabe | Good

 

[Stenevor]

But in the end I opted for:

The Knight of the Swords - Michael Moorcock
The Queen of the Swords - Michael Moorcock
The King of the Swords - Michael Moorcock
(Well, I thought, seeing as they were all there, I might as well get them all...because they were only £1.50 each! And they're the crazy retro covers from the 70s!)

After digging about in my loft last weekend I turned up about 40 Moorcock books(unseen for 10 years) and by coincidence have just started rereading the Corum books too. Theyre enjoyable enough but there doesnt seem to be a lot of detail there, as JD says he must have been writing at a hell of a pace and it shows.

Last week I read the Dancers at the End of Time trilogy and I think it would be right up your street if you like Hitchhikers, very funny especially the first 2 books even if it is pretty much the same joke over and over.

 

[j d worthington]

Oh, yes, the Dancers at the End of Time are wonderful little books; and they get absolutely insane before the end of the original trilogy of novels (The End of All Songs). The other two books (Legends from the End of Time and The Transformation of Miss Mavis Ming; or, the Return of the Fireclown) are a little less frenetic, but still very good satire. However, as with so much of Moorcock, there are serious points beneath the fluff; and often his tableaux are quite stunning (if sometimes overly chromatic). As someone else noted on one of the other threads, some of his fantasies really do read like the old mediaeval morality plays, complete with almost (or genuine) cardboard-level symbolism in novels where other aspects are often very detailed or textured.

The thing is, he's such a variable (and varied) writer... from the potboiler to the very textured, from light and frothy to extremely meaty, from irony to almost the almost Wagnerian (and sometimes a blending of the two); so it's sometimes difficult to suggest just one Moorcock to someone, because it all depends on what they're looking for, or in the mood for at that point. They all tie together, but they aren't necessarily dependent on one another.

 

[Nikitta]

A package arrived to me at work today, containing the first 3 books I had ordered friday evening. That was fast! I had asked them to split up my order, so I could get the books as fast as possible, but I'm still impressed.

 

[Aleksei]

I bought Shogun (Hardback), by James Clovell, today, and it only cost me 5 quid. Ah book sales are a great thing.