The unofficial online home for fans of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(06-21-2017 12:48 PM)Lush Wrote:  i've only just begun to get into science fiction. i mean, i've only heard of dune. i've got this lord book jotted down and soon i will spring it upon some unsuspecting book monger

I have a battered 1969 first printing from Avon Press. Which I purchased at a used book store called "Book Corner" located in Ravenna OH in or around 1997. For .50 - I know it was fifty cents because there is still a little sticker on the cover.

Book Corner, sadly, went out of business a year or two after said purchase. I suspect central to their demise is that they were in the practice of selling Hugo Award winning sci-fi novels for fifty cents. I would gladly have paid a few bucks for it.

I remember cashing out at the desk at the book shop and handing the owner 3.00 for 6 classic, amazing books. The owner was elated and I felt like I was robbing the guy.

Lush - PM me your address and I will send you this 48 year old treasure of a printing. My wife keeps telling me we am overrun with my books. It is just the right amount of yellowed and has soft "feel" of old quality paper. Love that sh*t.

I will pour a measure off my 40oz into the ground to celebrate the passing and new life of this old copy as well as the Book Corner R.I.P.

(06-22-2017 07:22 AM)skylinecat Wrote:  

(06-20-2017 12:37 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(06-20-2017 08:32 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I tried to get into Wheel of Time, but I think my least favorite part of fantasy literature is the excessive descriptions of mundane things. To me this was something I struggled with in Eye of the World, but I was much younger at that time and have developed a deeper appreciation for Epic Fantasy then I had back then. When I finish Malazan I was planning to move on to Mistborn, but I'm sure one day I'll try to give Wheel of Time a real opportunity.

One of my favorite things about Malazan is that as long as these books are and as much as there is to them, there is very little waste. The descriptions while giving you a great feel for what is going on are never excessive. If you miss a paragraph you can miss a ton as the story just keeps moving.

Instead of Mistborn, jump on Sanderson's other big series instead...I loved the first two books in the Stormlight Chronicle (Way of Kings and Words of Radiance)

I also highly recommend the Stormlight Chronicle and book 3 is coming out in November. I also really appreciate how open Sanderson is with his writing process (compared to he who shall not be named) and keeps a live tracker on his website on how the book is progressing.

Stormlight may be great, but it's only book 3 of what's supposed to be like a 10 book series. My understanding is Mistborn is a completed 3 book series. If I like Sanderson I'm sure I'll get to Stormlight.

(06-22-2017 08:38 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(06-22-2017 07:22 AM)skylinecat Wrote:  

(06-20-2017 12:37 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(06-20-2017 08:32 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I tried to get into Wheel of Time, but I think my least favorite part of fantasy literature is the excessive descriptions of mundane things. To me this was something I struggled with in Eye of the World, but I was much younger at that time and have developed a deeper appreciation for Epic Fantasy then I had back then. When I finish Malazan I was planning to move on to Mistborn, but I'm sure one day I'll try to give Wheel of Time a real opportunity.

One of my favorite things about Malazan is that as long as these books are and as much as there is to them, there is very little waste. The descriptions while giving you a great feel for what is going on are never excessive. If you miss a paragraph you can miss a ton as the story just keeps moving.

Instead of Mistborn, jump on Sanderson's other big series instead...I loved the first two books in the Stormlight Chronicle (Way of Kings and Words of Radiance)

I also highly recommend the Stormlight Chronicle and book 3 is coming out in November. I also really appreciate how open Sanderson is with his writing process (compared to he who shall not be named) and keeps a live tracker on his website on how the book is progressing.

Stormlight may be great, but it's only book 3 of what's supposed to be like a 10 book series. My understanding is Mistborn is a completed 3 book series. If I like Sanderson I'm sure I'll get to Stormlight.

Stormlight will follow the Mistborn pattern. Mistborn is a 7 book series that is divided up into the Original Trilogy and the Wax and Wayne Series. Wax and Wayne is set 300 years after the Original Trilogy.

The Stormlight Archive is fantastic and will be divided into two 5 book series. Sanderson has said that after book 5 it will switch and focus on new characters. I highly recommend The Stormlight Archives, and there will be a new book every other year. Sanderson has an insane ability to write with speed.

Both Stormlight and Mistborn are part of his bigger Cosmere Universe which is planned to span across 40 different books.

(06-22-2017 09:22 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(06-22-2017 08:38 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(06-22-2017 07:22 AM)skylinecat Wrote:  

(06-20-2017 12:37 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(06-20-2017 08:32 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I tried to get into Wheel of Time, but I think my least favorite part of fantasy literature is the excessive descriptions of mundane things. To me this was something I struggled with in Eye of the World, but I was much younger at that time and have developed a deeper appreciation for Epic Fantasy then I had back then. When I finish Malazan I was planning to move on to Mistborn, but I'm sure one day I'll try to give Wheel of Time a real opportunity.

One of my favorite things about Malazan is that as long as these books are and as much as there is to them, there is very little waste. The descriptions while giving you a great feel for what is going on are never excessive. If you miss a paragraph you can miss a ton as the story just keeps moving.

Instead of Mistborn, jump on Sanderson's other big series instead...I loved the first two books in the Stormlight Chronicle (Way of Kings and Words of Radiance)

I also highly recommend the Stormlight Chronicle and book 3 is coming out in November. I also really appreciate how open Sanderson is with his writing process (compared to he who shall not be named) and keeps a live tracker on his website on how the book is progressing.

Stormlight may be great, but it's only book 3 of what's supposed to be like a 10 book series. My understanding is Mistborn is a completed 3 book series. If I like Sanderson I'm sure I'll get to Stormlight.

Stormlight will follow the Mistborn pattern. Mistborn is a 7 book series that is divided up into the Original Trilogy and the Wax and Wayne Series. Wax and Wayne is set 300 years after the Original Trilogy.

The Stormlight Archive is fantastic and will be divided into two 5 book series. Sanderson has said that after book 5 it will switch and focus on new characters. I highly recommend The Stormlight Archives, and there will be a new book every other year. Sanderson has an insane ability to write with speed.

Both Stormlight and Mistborn are part of his bigger Cosmere Universe which is planned to span across 40 different books.

You're telling me...I don't know how the hell he was able to write Way of Kings, along with the Mistborn novels AND the Wheel of Time together at once. I feel like he has to just have multiple personalities that he switches on and off.

BTW... finally working on The Dark Tower series. I thought The Gunslinger was just OK, but I had heard that the Drawing of the Three may be the best book in the series so I'm giving that a whirl. So far it's been excellent.

Just finished A Game of Thrones and now moving on to A Clash of Kings

The first book was amazing. Pretty much dead on from the first season w/ a few changes. I also love reading what is going on in the minds of the characters that the show could never truly capture.

(06-22-2017 08:36 AM)Eastside_J Wrote:  

(06-21-2017 12:48 PM)Lush Wrote:  i've only just begun to get into science fiction. i mean, i've only heard of dune. i've got this lord book jotted down and soon i will spring it upon some unsuspecting book monger

I have a battered 1969 first printing from Avon Press. Which I purchased at a used book store called "Book Corner" located in Ravenna OH in or around 1997. For .50 - I know it was fifty cents because there is still a little sticker on the cover.

Book Corner, sadly, went out of business a year or two after said purchase. I suspect central to their demise is that they were in the practice of selling Hugo Award winning sci-fi novels for fifty cents. I would gladly have paid a few bucks for it.

I remember cashing out at the desk at the book shop and handing the owner 3.00 for 6 classic, amazing books. The owner was elated and I felt like I was robbing the guy.

Lush - PM me your address and I will send you this 48 year old treasure of a printing. My wife keeps telling me we am overrun with my books. It is just the right amount of yellowed and has soft "feel" of old quality paper. Love that sh*t.

I will pour a measure off my 40oz into the ground to celebrate the passing and new life of this old copy as well as the Book Corner R.I.P.

oh man. i somehow missed this. rath, can you forward my address to ej?

I read some fiction, but tend to spend more time in the non-fiction aisle.

Without prior planning, I incidentally ended up reading a couple of books right now that are related to Christopher Columbus, just in time for his holiday. I found them at the park office and gift shop at the Serpent Mound back in August. My father likes to return to Adams County each summer to see the history of our family from a few generations ago. This last time I brought my daughter so that she could experience some history of our family, as well as to get an appreciation of how well she has it compared to those in one of the poorest county's of our state.

I just finished "1491 - New Revelations of The Americas Before Columbus", by Charles C. Mann.
1491 - New Revelations of The Americas Before Columbus

I am currently reading the followup, "1493 - Uncovering The New World Columbus Created", also by Charles C. Mann.
1493 - Uncovering The New World Columbus Created

Neither are directly focused on Christopher Columbus the man, nor his PC debated legacy. Both focus on the peoples, cultures, empires, agriculture, and environment that existed prior to and following his arrival in 1492.

I find it fascinating how differently this narrative is versus what we commonly hold as true.

i'm reading a hilarious scattering of books right now. i got four on the docket off and on for months.

henry rollins- smile, you're traveling. the title doesn't lie, henry rollins is one corny mofo. surprised how much of a capitalist he is. he's so far only mentioned money once, but it's kinda stuck with me. i considered him a nihilist if anything. but then again, i don't really know much about him. i can't even stomach black flag. it's kinda funny, i don't think i'd be intimidated by him if we met. i think i would laugh if he tried to encourage me in his fashion, with the utmost respect. when i told my neighbor that henry rollins was my shitter book, told me it's a good idea having henry rollins yelling at you when you're taking a sh!t. gives you that extra umph

les liaisons dangereuses- pierre choderlos de laclos. this is the downstairs shitter book. i picked this up a few months ago a few blocks off the world's longest garage sale. i was conveniently located a few blocks from this book. i'm excited to get into it. marie antoinette loved it in secret, if you catch my drift. the author said he wanted to turn society on it's head

house of the dead- dostoyevsky. an introduction into russian jail. this was interrupted by someone suggesting to me

how to raise a wild child: the art and science of falling in love with nature- scott sampson. the wife wanted me to read it and i admit i wanted to read it as well but why leave gulag? ha, gulag can wait. the guy's got a pretty level head. practical advice, well researched and most of all inspirational. the guy's got me pretty excited. my little girl's gonna be backpacking by the age of ten, no nine

i started the wheel of time if anybody's remotely interested. god, the first 60 pages or something were so f*cking boring. i quit reading the intro about halfway thru. but i'm a stubborn reader and knew it would obviously pick up the pace. it sorta seems like the beginning of star wars, but blended with lord of the rings. so, my wife was a bit disappointed i chose this as my next book. she was thrilled to hear how boring the first part of it was. as i agreed to read a book about montessori schools. so i occasionally tell her how the book's progressing with a more cheerful attitude, honey, the female leads in this book are very strong

i'm halfway thru and enjoy it enough to probably read the series in the course of my lifetime

Eastside, come back. I need your full thoughts on ready player one. I just finished it. I liked it ok but had some big issues with it. This book was a pretty fun read that should have been a lot more fun than it was. The story wasn't particularly original nor was the idea of the OASIS. Hell I felt like the story was Snowcrash meets Willy Wonka with less interesting characters. That said, there was enough there that I should have enjoyed it more. The use of nerd culture combined with 80s/90s pop culture should have been a fun twist on the fairly typical Cyberpunk novel, instead all the interesting parts of that were overdone and at times got in the way. When the constant references served the story and the quest for the egg they worked, when the narrator spent pages describing the various tv channels run by the "gunters" it became excessive. The author could have used some serious editing. There is plenty there worthwhile, interesting and fun, but he can't seem to get out of his own way. Ultimately as protagonists and secondary protagonists go, Parzival and Atr3mis don't hold a candle to Hiro and Y.T. from Snowcrash and none of the scenes are as cool or fun as Stephenson gave us a couple decades ago. Plenty seem to rave about this book and though I mostly enjoyed it left me thinking what could have been with more interesting characters and fewer long narration tangents.

Anyone else who read it is free to comment.

Specifically beercat and bearcatman I think read this book as I scroll the thread. You have any thoughts?

(04-30-2018 10:21 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Specifically beercat and bearcatman I think read this book as I scroll the thread. You have any thoughts?

beercat jumped off a cliff

(05-01-2018 06:54 PM)Lush Wrote:  

(04-30-2018 10:21 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Specifically beercat and bearcatman I think read this book as I scroll the thread. You have any thoughts?

beercat jumped off a cliff

That's disappointing. Had some fun back and forth wth beercat... always appreciate his perspective. A few very good posters have stepped away.

(05-01-2018 08:04 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(05-01-2018 06:54 PM)Lush Wrote:  

(04-30-2018 10:21 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Specifically beercat and bearcatman I think read this book as I scroll the thread. You have any thoughts?

beercat jumped off a cliff

That's disappointing. Had some fun back and forth wth beercat... always appreciate his perspective. A few very good posters have stepped away.

someone said he was jarr's younger brother

i'm halfway thru tree of smoke by denis johnson. it bout 'nam. they're finally gonna start taking acid and going into tunnels. christ. you just know black man (a character) is gonna die. i really don't want him to even if he did scoop out a vc eyeball. but he's gotta die doesn't he?

it's funny how i came across this book. i was reading an issue of gq once upon a time and there was a picture of sean connery's james bond reading it on the beach. i figured if it was good enough for bond.... well. got me to thinking this book was about 'nam while 'nam was going on. that wasn't square man. denis johnson wrote a book called jesus' son. i haven't read it but it looked contemporary and i go back to that picture of bond holding that book. how could this be? turns out gq just photoshopped or whatever it's called the book into bond's hands about books men should read. that was probably the article i read to begin with. i'm all about manly

to my homeboy eastside. i finished lord of light. it would have been better had i read this book a year ago or possibly five years from now. i finished a fundamentalist translation of the bhagavad gita prior to starting this book. not my intention, i simply wanted to after your professed love. it appeared to me a potshot at hinduism. as if it were evil. the heroes seemed to appear to want to revel in the material world as the material world is a celebration of god

the bhagavad gita f*cked me. i took away from it, kill the senses, walk with god. all my vices, my hobbies, desires, scant sexual conquests are ultimately unfilling. the senses are in which thru we filter the material world. we are everlasting, what is material including our bodies are temporary so why the urge to satisfy momentary desires? It ultimately results in frustration for the desires must always be met. the way to sate our non spiritual cravings one must communicate with krsna without interruption. this is done thru unyielding servitude to one whom has spoken to krsna himself. and bhakti yoga. if you fail to due this, you will be given a body based upon your karma (which is nothing more than the consequences of actions). if you made some attempt to reach krsna, that is, if you tried to find out who you really are, you will be placed in a situation favorable for actualization. if you were a sh!thead and never tried to venture beyond the material world, you find yourself in supremely unfortunate circumstances. i don't dare think of the depths of this world. i like to think that i've risen from innocuous jungle ant at the apogee of the dinosaur to where i sit today. from how far i've come

of course i don't know if i believe in all of it, as i didn't count on, now to be fair, this was translated by the founder of krsna consciousness which can't help but be cult like. this dude got george harrison. it's like brainwashing, but it can be argued that it's necessary brainwashing. i still think you remain in control of your senses it's just, you finally are aware of what's directing your life. i think that is if you do it right though. but like i said, not a hundred percent aboard. so this is just one version of hindu. my buddy and his wife are reading a more flowery feel good translation. i wonder if it will be the same for me?

so in lord of light the incarnations of krsna are the villains and siddhartha is tired of big brother. why that flies in the face in everything i just read. while i enjoyed it, the blend of action scenes and dogma in the realm of science fiction, i don't know how i feel about it. this book was full of blasphemies. the insinuation that christians are zombies was quite a provocative take. the opportunistic lord of death, yama openly defying krsna by being siddhartha's charioteer. as you will remember, krsna served arjuna, his first devotee, as his charioteer in the great battle

i like that someone wrote this book. interesting concept

Lush, thanks for keeping this thread alive.

I've made it a point to read more at night this year. The best book I've read so far is The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. It's a far future dystopian novel that blends science fiction and fantasy. The way it is written takes some getting used to, but I found it utterly fascinating as it progressed and everything fit together so perfectly. It's the first of a three book series that has been completed. It also won the Hugo Award for best novel in 2016.

Currently reading Toll the Hounds (Book Eight of Malazan).

I have dedicated 2019 to reading Stephen King. So far this year I have read:

Shawshank
The Body
Apt Pupil
11/22/63
The Stand
IT

my next read is TBD, but have it narrowed down to The Regulators, Green Mile, The Shinning or Talisman.

currently rereading infinite jest. just kidding. reading it for the first time. the next baby is due inna month. companions. because that's what this book is. it's not a 1200 page book with roughly 150 of them being footnotes. it's the friend you never had telling you like it is

it's hilarious how close to home this book hits, with it's cutting edge portrayal of addiction. recreation. david foster wallace is an immense talent