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What book is everyone reading at the moment?

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The Lightening Thief. It's considered a YA fiction read, and at times I have to remind myself of that when dealing with the characters, but overall it's a good book. It was recommended to my wife by a friend, who in turn recommended it to me, since I do have a smallish background in classical Greek mythology. What I like most about the main character, Percy (Perseus) Jackson, is that unlike Harry Potter, his not untouched or unscathed by his upbringing. His reactions, anger, fear, excitement, etc. have some of their basis in his background and upbringing.
 
arthwollipot said:
Right now reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars because it was a free download. It's not grabbing me.
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It was one of the few books I gave up on.

I got it from the library, and took it back unfinished. I have no memory of any part of it.

That isn't a good sign...
 
BTMO said:
It was one of the few books I gave up on.

I got it from the library, and took it back unfinished. I have no memory of any part of it.

That isn't a good sign...
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Oh, I give up on lots of books. This one clearly happens to be a clever marketing ploy, known as a Loss Leader. I downloaded it for free. The second and third books of the trilogy are obviously not free. The idea is that the first hit is free, then you have to pay.

It only works if the first hit is actually good.
 
arthwollipot said:
Oh, I give up on lots of books. This one clearly happens to be a clever marketing ploy, known as a Loss Leader. I downloaded it for free. The second and third books of the trilogy are obviously not free. The idea is that the first hit is free, then you have to pay.

It only works if the first hit is actually good.
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Agreed. And this was not a good book. Before I read it many years ago I intended to purchase them all, but the first one just wasn't good enough to finish the series. It had been highly recommended by a (former) friend.

Anyroad, back on topic:

Currently reading The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One.

A
 
Jurassic Park

I just got finished with Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Considering where we are scientifically with our cloning and some of the attitudes of the scientific slash business community, it makes for one scary read.
 
Today I gave up on Swanwick's Vacuum Flowers after reading over half of it. It's a cyberpunk novel that explores an interesting idea: what if personalities and skills could be programmed like software? Interesting as that idea may be, the lack of intrige, character development and the (IMO) clumsy descriptions of the story's surroundings made me lose interest.

Now I've started in Walter Miller's A canticle for Leibowitz, and my impression so far is that (unlike Vacuum Flowers) this is a gripping feat of storytelling.
 
RobRoy said:
The Lightening Thief. It's considered a YA fiction read, and at times I have to remind myself of that when dealing with the characters, but overall it's a good book. It was recommended to my wife by a friend, who in turn recommended it to me, since I do have a smallish background in classical Greek mythology. What I like most about the main character, Percy (Perseus) Jackson, is that unlike Harry Potter, his not untouched or unscathed by his upbringing. His reactions, anger, fear, excitement, etc. have some of their basis in his background and upbringing.
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I've enjoyed that series (although I had to return Battle of the Labyrinth to the library before I finished it), but I have to take issue with the idea that Percy is somehow more affected by his upbringing than Harry Potter. In re-reading the Potter series recently, I saw countless references to Harry's gusto in eating so well at Hogwarts, his shock at actually getting Christmas gifts, and his attitude towards Draco Malfoy is directly influenced by the personality characteristics that Malfoy shares with Dudley. At least the first books in both series are aimed at a younger audience, and so character development is somewhat sparse--but I think it's inaccurate to say that Percy's life up to the start of the book has actually affected him more.
 
Fireshadow said:
I've enjoyed that series (although I had to return Battle of the Labyrinth to the library before I finished it), but I have to take issue with the idea that Percy is somehow more affected by his upbringing than Harry Potter. In re-reading the Potter series recently, I saw countless references to Harry's gusto in eating so well at Hogwarts, his shock at actually getting Christmas gifts, and his attitude towards Draco Malfoy is directly influenced by the personality characteristics that Malfoy shares with Dudley. At least the first books in both series are aimed at a younger audience, and so character development is somewhat sparse--but I think it's inaccurate to say that Percy's life up to the start of the book has actually affected him more.
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It may be that because I'm only now being introduced to the character, and haven't finished the book, that you're exactly correct in your assessment. However, having dealt with foster-children, and taking (required) courses on their care, I know that "eating with gusto" is far and away different from the kinds of behaviors that such children generally display. Eating until ill, eating at all hours of the night, and the hording of food is very common in such cases. In fact, such displays are more common than not in children deprived as Harry was. The other elements that you mention are so extremely mild as to be well within the realm of normal.

Percy, on the other hand, has a hard time controlling his temper, to the point that he erupts in situations that other children would tend to not, including Harry. He has a very pointed sense of abandonment, something which Harry had very mildly, and as such is considered a trouble-maker with discipline problems.

That Harry had so much abuse in his life, and yet bordered on Rockwellian-normal is far more astounding than any of the behavior issues I've seen in Percy so far.
 
RobRoy said:
It may be that because I'm only now being introduced to the character, and haven't finished the book, that you're exactly correct in your assessment. However, having dealt with foster-children, and taking (required) courses on their care, I know that "eating with gusto" is far and away different from the kinds of behaviors that such children generally display. Eating until ill, eating at all hours of the night, and the hording of food is very common in such cases. In fact, such displays are more common than not in children deprived as Harry was. The other elements that you mention are so extremely mild as to be well within the realm of normal.

Percy, on the other hand, has a hard time controlling his temper, to the point that he erupts in situations that other children would tend to not, including Harry. He has a very pointed sense of abandonment, something which Harry had very mildly, and as such is considered a trouble-maker with discipline problems.

That Harry had so much abuse in his life, and yet bordered on Rockwellian-normal is far more astounding than any of the behavior issues I've seen in Percy so far.
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I don't have any experience with deprived children, so I can't speak to that. I can relate to Percy's temper, though--his attitude reminded me quite a bit of me at that age. But Harry also has issues with his temper and rebels against authority (to a degree--at the beginning his self-esteem is so low he barely has the courage to speak up). The problem is that Percy and Harry's life experience up to the starts of their stories are so drastically different that it is very difficult to compare. At least Percy, for example, still knew his mother--she was the anchor keeping him grounded. Harry, on the other hand, had nothing to cling to, no lifeline--until he got his letter. Quite a few of Percy's behavioral problems were actually through no fault of his own--similar to Harry, they were manifestations of his extraordinary heritage, things which he really didn't have control over.

Having read both series recently, I really can't see where Percy's background has a more pronounced effect on him than Harry's, but it may just be personal bias. Both of them, however, have the same major flaw--they want to save everyone.
 
Fireshadow said:
I don't have any experience with deprived children, so I can't speak to that. I can relate to Percy's temper, though--his attitude reminded me quite a bit of me at that age. But Harry also has issues with his temper and rebels against authority (to a degree--at the beginning his self-esteem is so low he barely has the courage to speak up). The problem is that Percy and Harry's life experience up to the starts of their stories are so drastically different that it is very difficult to compare. At least Percy, for example, still knew his mother--she was the anchor keeping him grounded. Harry, on the other hand, had nothing to cling to, no lifeline--until he got his letter. Quite a few of Percy's behavioral problems were actually through no fault of his own--similar to Harry, they were manifestations of his extraordinary heritage, things which he really didn't have control over.
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Which is why I say that Percy's character is more realistic in this regard than Harry's.

This doesn't make one story better than the other. I just liked that the author took Percy's character in a more logical direction than Harry's.

It's a minor quibble, but one I liked in this series.

Having read both series recently, I really can't see where Percy's background has a more pronounced effect on him than Harry's, but it may just be personal bias. Both of them, however, have the same major flaw--they want to save everyone.
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Well of course, because who wants to read about a selfish child who grows up into a selfish adult and requires years of therapy to get over their abandonment and abuse issues?
 
RobRoy said:
Which is why I say that Percy's character is more realistic in this regard than Harry's.

This doesn't make one story better than the other. I just liked that the author took Percy's character in a more logical direction than Harry's.

It's a minor quibble, but one I liked in this series.
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I can agree with this.

Well of course, because who wants to read about a selfish child who grows up into a selfish adult and requires years of therapy to get over their abandonment and abuse issues?
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Not me, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a number of people who do. Never underestimate the power of schadenfreude.
 
Fireshadow said:
Not me, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a number of people who do. Never underestimate the power of schadenfreude.
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I probably should have caveated that statement, since you're right. The first thing that came to mind when I read your response was Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. So, there is always that.
 
Ghost Wars - Steve Coll

The secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001.
 
RobRoy said:
Is Coll the operative who was ordered to kill Bin Laden, put his head on ice and bring it back?
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I doubt it. He has been the managing editor of the Washington Post since 1998 and covered Afganistan as the Post's South Asia bureau chief between 1989 and 1992.
 
I'm reading God Emperor of Dune, the fourth book in Frank Herbert's Dune series and OMFG I want to claw my eyes out, throw it out the window, feed it to a goat, or I don't know what. It crawls. After the sheer brilliance that was George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series I was hungry for some big, timeless fiction series. I'm a major Tokien nerd, BTW.

I'm one of those people that saw David Lynch's theatrical version of Dune before I read the book. I love the universe and the characters so I thought it would be a good idea to get into the series. Ugh. Bad idea. It's frustrating because the first book is so good and so familiar but with each successive installment it just decends further and further into this bog of philosophical contemplations on power gobbledy-gook. The narrative moves like an 82 year old woman driving a Dodge Dart - @#$%ing move already! It gets into the sludge and you don't have a clue what's going on. Hey, where'd the story go. Are these guys talking now or was this some time ago or what? Is something going to happen? Fourteen pages ago these two characters started moving down a hall together and I'm still reading about the musings of the true roll of the military in society that sarted ten pages ago and these fools aren't out the hall. Oh, just give me the chopstick so I can stick it in my eye already. I feel pretty confident that Herbert did lots of LSD at least at some point in his life.

The thing I was doing was reading The Legend of Drizzt series and going back to reading Dune while I waited to get the next Drizzt book. That series is the exact opposite of Herbert's. It's fantasy-lite. The narrative just rips by and the fantasy elements are, well, hey, it's Dungeons and Dragons we're talking about here. Whoever the editor was for that series needs to be shook like, really hard. Don't ever let that fool near a book as an editor again. Hands down, the worst editing I have ever seen in any book series in my life. I've never wondered if an editor drinks before reading that series. Still, it was a great antidote to Hebert's rambling. I don't know what kind of masochistic self-flagellator makes it to the end of the sixth and last book in the series, Chapterhouse: Dune, but that person has my respect/derision.

So does anyone have any recommendations for a good fiction series for someone who loves Tolkien and Martin?
 
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