AR Book Club

[Pharass]

So Alan Moore's 1184-page brick of a book that he's slaved over in his cave for more than a decade will finally be out in a week. I put it on hold at my local library, and I'm afraid of it.

I had completely forgotten about that book, can't even remember the title. What was it again?

I've been making my way through Edward Wittemore's Jerusalem Quartet. Recently finished the second book and am about to start the third. This is a great series and I can easily see why the books are held in such high regard by those who've read them. Its also one of those series' that defies easy classification, being both historical fiction, spy-fiction and magic realism at one and the same time. The series also offers a host of memorable, larger-than-life characters, such as Haj Harun, the self-appointed guardian of Jerusalem who has spent three millenia defending it, always on the losing side.
Great read, highly recommended.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Jerusalem

[Pharass]

Jerusalem

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about it, when the time comes.

[Dr. Insomniac]

The prose was wonderful, and I applauded Moore's attempts to play with other writer's eccentricities (like a one chapter riff on Finnegan's wake). On the other hand, it also showcases the worst of Moore's habits, obsession with details most readers won't even care about, detours that are just him rambling about modern culture, things you've heard him say in dozens of interviews. Anyone expecting Alan Moore to not veer off and complain about superheroes or the 21st century will be disappointed. It's not for the fainthearted, and demands far more attention than your mind can muster when on a delayed subway or on a dirty bus. That said, I did like it far more than LOEG: Century or Neonomicon (I'll read Providence once it finishes), so it's worth a try.

[Pharass]

The prose was wonderful, and I applauded Moore's attempts to play with other writer's eccentricities (like a one chapter riff on Finnegan's wake). On the other hand, it also showcases the worst of Moore's habits, obsession with details most readers won't even care about, detours that are just him rambling about modern culture, things you've heard him say in dozens of interviews. Anyone expecting Alan Moore to not veer off and complain about superheroes or the 21st century will be disappointed. It's not for the fainthearted, and demands far more attention than your mind can muster when on a delayed subway or on a dirty bus. That said, I did like it far more than LOEG: Century or Neonomicon (I'll read Providence once it finishes), so it's worth a try.

Thanks for the heads-up. I must admit that much as I respect Moore, the flaws you mention make me reluctant to read the book. At any rate, I have far to many other books I need to get to as it is. I'll file it in the "maybe" category for now.

[Pharass]

Resurrecting thread to inform everyone (in case they didn't already know) about the recent passing of a great author:

RIP Richard Adams

[Dr. Insomniac]

Haven't gotten to Watership Down yet, but I did read a few of his short stories some time ago. RIP.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This video perfectly sums up my thoughts on The Cursed Child: http://youtu.be/rq-9BnHPjsY

[Pharass]

I watched the video. To be perfectly honest, I really don't have any interest in reading The Cursed Child, but the video was good; interesting and informative.
As for me, I've started reading They Were Found Wanting by Miklos Banffy; its the second book in his Transylvanian Trilogy and so far, its living up to the high expectations set by the first volume.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I watched the video. To be perfectly honest, I really don't have any interest in reading The Cursed Child, but the video was good; interesting and informative.

Believe me, you're really not missing anything.

As for me, I have The Stand by Stephen King, which I have yet to start, and am currently reading The Name of The Wind. I have to say, I really like it when a fictional story actually bothers to explain how its system of magic works, and I like how this series seems to have a very methodical, almost scientific basis for the mechanics of its magic.

[Pharass]

I really like it when a fictional story actually bothers to explain how its system of magic works, and I like how this series seems to have a very methodical, almost scientific basis for the mechanics of its magic.

Have you read Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson? I read it not that long ago and recall the magic system in it being pretty well-thought out.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I haven't, but if you say it's good I'll consider looking into it for sure.

[Pharass]

I haven't, but if you say it's good I'll consider looking into it for sure.

Its the first book in a trilogy. I haven't read the other two yet, but I thought it worked pretty well as a stand-alone.

Currently re-reading Wolf Hall. Such a great novel; at the risk of being accused for hyperbole, I think that Hilary Mantel is a genuine candidate for the title of best living novelist. To be honest, I'm even more excited for the release of The Mirror and the Light than I am for The Winds Of Winter and that's saying a lot.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I recently read Ready Player One, and thought it was kind of dumb. Don't get me wrong, I can fully see the appeal of a story like this, and the trailer for the movie leads me to believe that Spielberg will be taking enough creative liberties to make this story work much better than its source material, but as it stands I found it to basically be the American version of Sword Art Online, except slightly less shitty and offensive, but not really good either. I'm all for 80's nostalgia and pop-culture references, but taking that out of the equation (which is all the book seemed to have going for it in the first place) and it's as standard of a story as you can get, and while that is certainly not an inherent problem in and of itself, it's just that I've seen this standard story done much better elsewhere that this one didn't really stand out to me. On top of that, it doesn't help that the main character sounds like one of those self-indulgent Internet twats that I can't stand, yet neither him, his friends, or any part of the narrative seem self-aware of that fact, instead passing him off as some kind of gaming and digital prodigy that is somehow the messiah of virtual reality (which also kind of conflicts with the novel's apparent message of not wasting your life by completely ignoring the outside world).

Anyways, I currently have Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology on Audible, which I'll be listening to now that I've completed RPO, and in addition to that, I finished The Name of the Wind a couple of months ago and really got into it, so I'll be starting the sequel book The Wise Man's Fear shortly, as well.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm making my way through The Wise Man's Fear, the second of The Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy. I really liked The Name of the Wind (I even double-dipped to pick up the 10th Anniversary Edition) and I'm really loving the sequel. By far it's a superior book to the already engaging first novel. I'm just not looking forward to finishing it because seeing as how it released back in 2011 and there is no word of when the third book will be released, we're pretty much looking at a Winds of Winter length wait for the conclusion to the story.