Book Hauls!

[Matteo]

Today from Abebooks. I need Dragondrums now as that is the third in a trilogy within the Pern series.
And so glad to get a copy of Dark again. I seem to remember it being really quite horrific when I read it years ago. Here's hoping it doesn't disappoint like Moon and the Jonah did.View attachment 125235

Dave Roe artwork

 

[AE35Unit]

The book, or the people it portrayed? I don't think you were supposed to like any of the characters - apart maybe from the narrator Nick but even he doesn't like himself much.

It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…​

Loathsome people. Great book.

I can't be doing with unlikeable annoying whiny characters. The main characters have to be likeable or at least relateable. There's been a few like that of late

 

[Elentarri]

For me, the main characters do not have to be likeable or relatable, but they do need to be interesting. The only use I have to unlikable, annoying, whiny, whingey, and too-stupid-to-live characters is for monster fodder (preferably the large, supposedly prehistoric kind). If there is no potential for ravenous monsters, then there is no point in putting up with unlikable, annoying, whiny, wingey, and too-stupid-to-live characters.

 

[Pyan]

Today from Abebooks. I need Dragondrums now as that is the third in a trilogy within the Pern series.
And so glad to get a copy of Dark again. I seem to remember it being really quite horrific when I read it years ago. Here's hoping it doesn't disappoint like Moon and the Jonah did.View attachment 125235

That looks like a nice early Dragonsong, @AE35Unit - and a much better dragon than the rather insipid later ones.

Since when was Mnementh fitted with a steering wheel?

 

[JunkMonkey]

For me, the main characters do not have to be likeable or relatable, but they do need to be interesting.

Generally agree but A Clockwork Orange, or things like Moorcock.s Elric books wouldn't be anything like as good as they are if we actually liked the protagonists.

The only use I have to unlikable, annoying, whiny, whingey, and too-stupid-to-live characters is for monster fodder (preferably the large, supposedly prehistoric kind). If there is no potential for ravenous monsters, then there is no point in putting up with unlikable, annoying, whiny, wingey, and too-stupid-to-live characters.

Not a great fan of Lord of the Rings then? which for me contains the greatest concentration of unlikable, annoying, whiny, wingey, and too-stupid-to-live characters that I have ever read.

 

[Elentarri]

Not a great fan of Lord of the Rings then? which for me contains the greatest concentration of unlikable, annoying, whiny, wingey, and too-stupid-to-live characters that I have ever read.

Love LotR. Though Eowyn does annoy me on some re-reads. It's some of the characters in the Silmarillion that could do with a kick in the pants.

 

[AE35Unit]

Having your main character as a total grouch is a no no (Rebus is an example of this. I stopped reading Ian Rankin's Rebus books because I couldn't stand Rebus as a character)
BTW I love LoTR!

 

[hitmouse]

Having your main character as a total grouch is a no no (Rebus is an example of this. I stopped reading Ian Rankin's Rebus books because I couldn't stand Rebus as a character)
BTW I love LoTR!

Have you tried the Slow Horses books?

 

[AE35Unit]

Have you tried the Slow Horses books?

Dunno what they are! Author?

 

[Pyan]

Dunno what they are! Author?

Slough House Series | Mick Herron Books

Mind you, if you're not fond of descriptive passages, you may not enjoy them. But Jackson Lamb is a masterpiece of an anti-hero.

At length, the traffic lights change. The bus coughs into movement, and trundles on its way to St. Paul’s. And in her last few seconds of viewing, our upstairs passenger might wonder what it’s like, working in these offices; might even conjure a brief fantasy in which the building, instead of a faltering legal practice, becomes an overhead dungeon to which the failures of some larger service are consigned as punishment: for crimes of drugs and drunkenness and lechery; of politics and betrayal; of unhappiness and doubt; and of the unforgivable carelessness of allowing a man on a tube platform to detonate himself, killing or maiming an estimated 120 people and causing £30m worth of actual damage, along with a projected £2.5 billion in lost tourist revenue—becomes, in effect, an administrative oubliette where, alongside a pre-digital overflow of paperwork, a post-useful crew of misfits can be stored and left to gather dust.”

Slow Horses

 

[AE35Unit]

Dont fancy getting involved in yet another series. I have no more shelf space. My books are just stacked on top of each other, awaiting reading or binning

 

[hitmouse]

Dont fancy getting involved in yet another series. I have no more shelf space. My books are just stacked on top of each other, awaiting reading or binning

The main character is an alcoholic chainsmoker who lives in squalor, farts a lot and is unpleasant to everyone. Maybe not your cup of tea.

 

[AE35Unit]

Today's mixed bag. Finally a copy of Starship Troopers!

 

[AE35Unit]

Inside that horror anthology

 

[Randy M.]

Inside that horror anthology View attachment 125337

This was a well-known, well-regarded anthology at the time, as I recall (though there's not a single story by a woman, which wasn't odd for the time, but stands out like a sore thumb now). While I'm familiar with a few of the titles (probably from seeing contents pages in Best of anthologies), I only recall reading one, "The Great God Pan" by M. John Harrison, which he expanded into The Course of the Heart; not exactly a horror story, but eerie, and the novel was one of the best I read in the oughts. I did see the made-for-TV adaptation of "The Night Flyer" and that was pretty good -- a good showcase for Miguel Ferrar.

 

[Dave Vicks]

A couple of NICK FURY Comics.
AMBERJACK by Terry Dowling, stories.
CD'S By James Horner, and Mahler.

 

[AE35Unit]

I did see the made-for-TV adaptation of "The Night Flyer" and that was pretty good -- a good showcase for Miguel Ferrar.

Never seen the film, didn't know there was one. But then I'd not heard of the story before

 

[AE35Unit]

Got these two James Herbert books today, both will be distant re reads.
Shrine was filmed recently as The Unholy. Not bad actually.

 

[AE35Unit]

Finally got Dragondums, the third in the nestled trilogy within the Pern series

 

[JunkMonkey]

11 volumes of the BD 'Alix' 'by Jaques Martin - well, that's what the listing on eBay said; what I got was 10 volumes of Alix and a volume of 'Jhen' by Jaques Martin. (Same sort of thing but set in the 100 Years War. ) They were cheap enough and it's all exploring so I'm not going to complain.