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| Books!; Yummy, yummy words | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 22 2011, 01:18 PM (542 Views) | |
| Braythor | Nov 22 2011, 01:18 PM Post #1 |
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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There's been talk about music, art, films, tv, but I've seen no mention of books, other than the odd graphic novel reference. So, as I'm as passionate about reading and writing as I am about gaming, here's a thread on the topic for all aspects of it. I'm interested to know what books/authors you lot read, what you like, what you hate etc etc. Me first! I'm a fantasy nut; love it. I'm talking of course about high/epic fantasy, such as Tolkien, GRR Martin, Tad Williams, Robin Hobb etc etc, not the current young adult fixations (though I admit I did like Harry Potter). It's mostly what I write too. For me, reading is about the stories, and I never cease to be amazed by the ability of some authors to create events, characters, entire worlds and their histories, and bring them to life on the pages of a book. I do read other stuff though. I've always loved Stephen King, since I was a wee nipper of 9 or 10. Some of his stuff is crap (Cell is the last one I read that I'd call bad), but a lot of it is brilliant. Horror was something I was really into as a teenager, and James Herbert became another favourite author. Some of his work is just shit-your-pants terrifying. I could go on and on and on about stuff I've read, but as I'm not Yellow, I won't Yet.
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| porottaja | Nov 22 2011, 02:00 PM Post #2 |
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Top 3 Oddball
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I have read all of the Harry Potters and Lord of the Rings. And I have to say I prefer the books to movies. Terry Pratchett and P.B.Kerr also write good fantasy books. I also like thriller books written by Ilkka Remes, who is a finn. I am not sure if his books are translated to English, but if they are, you should really check them out! |
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| Scruff 815 | Nov 22 2011, 02:24 PM Post #3 |
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The Arbiter
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Harry Potter books > Harry Potter movies LOTR books < LOTR movies. Sorry, but the language it's written in can be quite obtrusive at times, and Tom Bombadil is a massive pain in the ass. Also I greatly enjoy the Hobbity gay subtext of the films. Good call btw Braythor, I was thinking about doing a books thread just the other day! ![]() As a rule I have three main genres of reading.. Young adult fantasy. Yes, Harry Potter, but also Garth Nix (the Abhorsen Trilogy is incredible), Jonathan Stroud (the Bartimaeus Trilogy pisses on every other young adult series ever), and Robin Jarvis (the Deptford Mice series is one of my favourites of all time). People tend to look down on young adult stuff because it's not full of sex and swearing but that's bullshit. The Deptford Mice series may be about talking mice, but it also has deep subtext about religion, war, politics, death, the loss of innocence, and other stuff. It also has very graphic violence, including a rat called Skinner who has a bottle opener for an arm who likes to skin mice alive. Also I've just read Watership Down, which may be a "classic" but is actually just a young adult book written by an old man who spends too long jerking off over long descriptions of countryside and not enough time writing a plot and/or characters. "Classics". Of course, define "classics", but hey. I like to read the stuff I arguably should read. Some of them are amazing (Lord Of The Flies), some are good if a little boring (To Kill A Mockingbird), others are just straight-up terrible (A Clockwork Orange). Odd stuff. VALIS by Philip K. Dick, Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien are all difficult - yet incredibly rewarding - reads. He's less odd, but I also very much enjoy Michael Crichton. Jurassic Park (the book) is sooooo much better than the film, and the film was amazing. In terms of what I hate, the obvious target is Twilight, but then I also hate authors who spend too long on clever descriptive metaphors and nowhere near enough time on writing an actual story. Good prose is all well and good, but it's the story that I'm going to remember. I'm looking at you, Peter Straub... Recently started The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick... |
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| snickerdoodle | Nov 22 2011, 03:21 PM Post #4 |
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Just me.
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Twilight the end. ![]()
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| SgtMaj AJJ | Nov 22 2011, 03:42 PM Post #5 |
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Recruit
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I'm a big fan of horror and sci-fi books. Currently reading Damned by Chuck Palahniuk: quick read and very entertaining. I'm a typical King fan, and have been since I was permitted by my parents to check out Stephen King books from the Library. One of my favorite authors has to be Warren Ellis. I highly recommend Crooked Little Vein for some seriously hilarious shit. |
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| snarwhal | Nov 22 2011, 04:55 PM Post #6 |
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Sergeant
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I prefer fantasy to sci-fi but enjoy historical fiction and a good witch or vampire tale now and again. How many can you tick off the map? I just finished Mr. Rothfuss's Name of the Wind books and am now enjoying Ms. Collins's trilogy that will soon be a motion picture. SciFi/Fantasy Flow Chart |
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| Braythor | Nov 22 2011, 06:24 PM Post #7 |
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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No, no, no, I can't agree with LOTR movies being better. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the movies, but the books are just spectacular. Though I do agree with what you said about Tom Bombadil. I understand the point about the language, but I found once you get used to it, it's fine. The same goes for the Silmarillion, which is awesome but man is it a tough read. I've not heard of the titles you listed there, but I have heard of Stroud and Nix, just never paid them any attention; my tendency to avoid young adult fantasy is based on the urban fantasy stuff, like Twishite, Hunger Games etc, which isn't fair as I know it pools a lot of stuff into the same rubbish bin. I may well look into some of your suggestions, though I've got a huge list of to-read things, not least of which is the Robert Jordan books. Odd you should mention Jurassic Park: that was the last book I read! Have had it since I was a kid and thought I'd read it again. It is indeed so much better than the film (which I watched for the umpteenth time immediately after I finished the book, to compare) The film is great, but it misses out pretty much the entire point of the story. It touches on it, and there's enough to say it makes a token effort, but the emphasis is on action and CGI. Edited by Braythor, Nov 22 2011, 06:42 PM.
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| snickerdoodle | Nov 22 2011, 10:17 PM Post #8 |
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Just me.
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Hunger Games is fantastic.. You really should give them a read! |
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| crazybydefault | Nov 23 2011, 12:22 AM Post #9 |
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Grenade Honker
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I've always been a George Orwell fan ever since we read Animal Farm in 7th grade (I was a smart youngin'). After that, I read Fahrenheit 451 for a book report and just kept reading his stuff. I'm also a fan of Catcher in the Rye (but don't expect me to assassinate anybody while carrying around a heavily annotated copy of it...) and The Things They Carried. I read a lot of different genres really, but I'm always up for a good Stephen King novel!
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| Noobwarrior523 | Nov 23 2011, 04:35 AM Post #10 |
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Death Fodder
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I read part of animal farm, but never finished it, very interesting book, I'm gonna find it and finish it now.Also scruff, on the topic of "classics" I'm happy to know I'm not the only person who found To Kill A Mockingbird a bit boring. And also, that creepy description of Watership Down, I'm probably never going to want to read that now. |
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| porottaja | Nov 23 2011, 10:43 AM Post #11 |
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Top 3 Oddball
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Yea, I have read classics through school. I just finished Animal Farm and I have read books like Lord of the Flies before. |
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| Braythor | Nov 23 2011, 11:23 AM Post #12 |
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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I've not read as many classics as I feel I should've. I enjoyed Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies, the only problem was that I read them at school, which of course doesn't mean reading, it means critically analysing the underlying metaphors regarding modern socie- I would read the whole book in a week, then be bored for the rest of the term. Since school, I read 1984, which was good but not great. Probably would've been more relevant a couple decades ago, though some bits do ring true for today, perhaps moreso than they did back then. Brave New World is better. Can't remember what else I've read that would be defined as a classic. I am Legend, which is an awesome book and should be referred to as a classic. Edited by Braythor, Nov 23 2011, 11:23 AM.
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| Scruff 815 | Nov 23 2011, 11:47 AM Post #13 |
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The Arbiter
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YES. It's really surprising it's as old as it is; it certainly doesn't read like a 50 year old book. And for a story so short, simple and smartly paced, it's amazing that they fucked it up as badly as they did for the Will Smith movie. Also I really hated Catcher In The Rye. I don't understand why anyone likes it. Nothing happens. Nothing at all. A teenager walks around being a teenager for a couple of days. The End. Being a teenager isn't any fun, let alone reading about one you've never met. |
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| snickerdoodle | Nov 23 2011, 12:59 PM Post #14 |
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Just me.
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you know what book has absolutely NO plot? Peyton Place. i bought it at a thrift shop and read it. i still don't get the point of the book. ![]() To Kill A Mockingbird is probably one of my favorite books ever. i HAD to read it in 7th or 8th grade and HATED it. because we could only read a chapter at a time and i was so.bored. but once i reread it at my own pace, it improved so much. it.
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| snarwhal | Nov 23 2011, 03:36 PM Post #15 |
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Sergeant
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Holden Caulfield = whiny, fearful, self-centered, misogynist. Katniss = Awesome! |
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| SgtMaj AJJ | Nov 23 2011, 04:25 PM Post #16 |
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Recruit
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My wife read the series first, and I really had my doubts. "Oh great, another Twilight 'esque series." I was pleasantly surprised by the series. They were very engaging and I'm really looking forward to the movies. |
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| cuddlebug38 | Nov 23 2011, 05:51 PM Post #17 |
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THE Pretty Pretty Princess
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I completely agree about The Hunger Games. They totally live up to all the hype. so good
Give The Hunger Games a shot. It's not urban... it's post-apocalyptic... and awesome. I'm about to reread The Wheel of Time series in anticipation of the final book coming out in March. If I start now I should be able to read all 13 books before than. We'll see. If you liked the great fantasy series (Tolkien, GRR Martin, Terry Goodkind, etc) you should really enjoy Wheel of Time. |
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| Braythor | Nov 23 2011, 06:07 PM Post #18 |
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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Ok, I'm swayed, I'll put Hunger Games on my list and see what happens. But Wheel of Time will probably come first I think. |
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| JohnMcL7 | Nov 24 2011, 02:12 AM Post #19 |
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Daemonhunter
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As this is a Halo board I feel I should mention the Halo books first. I'm keen on detail so during the opening cutscene for the first Halo when Cortana tells Keyes that the main gun is offline and that was her last defensive option I'd wondered what technology was that gun, what defensive capabilities did the ship have and what level of technology were the Covenant ships. The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund explains all this in considerable detail with some superb ship to ship battles as well as giving us a detailed look at the controversial history of the Spartans which is where Dr Halsey is introduced. The book starts off with John-117 at just six years old and finishes at the start of Halo: Combat Evolved. If you only read one Halo book I'd recommend this one as it gives a welcome depth to the Halo universe. The Flood follows on written by a different author and basically tells the story of Halo Combat Evolved which may sound pointless but as well as giving more character to the Master Chief (who was deliberately anonymous in the game) it also gives the view points of some of the Covenant and follows the humans as they try to get off the Pillar of Autumn to set up camp then try to escape Halo themselves. First Strike then follows directly on again starting the Master Chief stranded in the longbow after the destruction of Halo, after this point the books don't really tie into the game series much nor follow the Master Chief. Ghosts of Onyx is particularly relevant to Reach as it's the book that introduced the Mk III Spartans and takes part around the time of the events of Halo 2 but as above, doesn't relate to any part of the game story and branches off on its own. Contact Harvest is a prequel following Johnson and the first encounter between humans and Covenant but I wasn't keen on it, much of the story is fairly dull and there's no juicy insights at all into Johnson's spartan past nor any Spartans at all. Cole Protocol is another prequel after combat harvest although this time featuring Spartans, it's not bad but nowhere good as Nylund's work on the series. There's also a short stories book which is fairly average bar a fairly interesting one from Nylund again. Recently they've launched the Forerunner trilogy with the book Cryptum which I've bought although not started reading yet, it sounds like they're doing a lot of retconning which I'm not keen on but will give it a go. I've also read some of Nylund's own work which I've generally enjoyed, particularly Game of Universe. In general I'm a massive fan of sci-fi and unsurprisingly for any of those that recognise my avatar, my main literary interest at the moment is Warhammer 40,000. I'm going to be pretend they're anything great book wise but they're enjoyable and there's lots and lots of them which means you can see so much of the WH40K universe. John |
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| crazybydefault | Nov 24 2011, 03:22 AM Post #20 |
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Grenade Honker
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My sister read the Hunger Games, and I thought they were also a Twilight-esque series. She recommended them to my grandmother (who has great taste in books, IMO) and my grandmother loved them. I might have to read them as well... |
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You are all welcome, no matter how you found us so feel free to look around a bit. We'd love it if you stayed a while though so go on and register, you know you want to...Simply use your GamerTag as your login then wander on over to Introductions, say hello, and join in the fun!


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I would read the whole book in a week, then be bored for the rest of the term.

it.

5:45 PM Jul 13