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Main => Everything Else => Topic started by: Dervacumen on August 11, 2011, 03:43:26 pm

Title: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Dervacumen on August 11, 2011, 03:43:26 pm
For some reason I decided to re-read a few books that to me seemed to be fantastic.  Do you have any I should read?  I don't care about ratings or critically acclaimed.  It's all about what you really liked or identified with for whatever reason.   For me, there are a few on which I ponder on occasion so I'll start with two of my favorites.  Right now I'm reading Brave New World again.  I's tattered and torn, and the cover is falling off so I have to be careful.  There's something grounding about reading a tattered book now-a-days...


Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.
The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger.

Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: HaRuMaN on August 11, 2011, 03:46:07 pm
I just finished reading Brave New World for the first time a few weeks ago.  Good book.  Picked it up on Paperbackswap...

One book I really liked and I reread from time to time is Macroscope by Piers Anthony.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: stu33 on August 11, 2011, 03:49:27 pm
Any of the Malcolm Gladwell books (Blink, Outliers and The Tipping Point).  They're non-fiction, really they're just really long essays.

I'm rereading Stephen Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell right now.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Louis Tully on August 11, 2011, 03:56:27 pm
.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Vigo on August 11, 2011, 04:00:34 pm
For some reason I decided to re-read a few books that to me seemed to be fantastic.  Do you have any I should read?  I don't care about ratings or critically acclaimed.  It's all about what you really liked or identified with for whatever reason.   For me, there are a few on which I ponder on occasion so I'll start with two of my favorites.  Right now I'm reading Brave New World again.  I's tattered and torn, and the cover is falling off so I have to be careful.  There's something grounding about reading a tattered book now-a-days...


Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.
The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger.



If you dig dystopians like Brave New World, you should try 1984 (if you haven't already).
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: wp34 on August 11, 2011, 04:11:23 pm
I just read "The Unincorporated Man" which has a bit of a Brave New World feel to it.  It takes place 300 years in the future where society has collapsed and rebuilt itself around the concept of incorporation-- buying and selling shares of each other.  There is a sequel that I have not picked up yet.

http://www.amazon.com/Unincorporated-Man-Dani-Kollin/dp/B005DI93O8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313093401&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Unincorporated-Man-Dani-Kollin/dp/B005DI93O8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313093401&sr=8-1)



Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: newmanfamilyvlogs on August 11, 2011, 04:17:20 pm
I just finished reading Brave New World for the first time a few weeks ago.  Good book.  Picked it up on Paperbackswap...

One book I really liked and I reread from time to time is Macroscope by Piers Anthony.

I've been meaning to read that again for years and years. I had a paperback copy that was my fathers and in absolute decay. Pages aged an off-red, musty smell, holes and stains. It's still out of print, right?


Here's a few other newer ones:

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764 (http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764)


I recently found 'the Rifter trilogy' through some opensource book listing and really enjoyed them:
http://www.rifters.com/starfish/s_main.htm (http://www.rifters.com/starfish/s_main.htm)
http://www.rifters.com/maelstrom/maelstrom_master.htm (http://www.rifters.com/maelstrom/maelstrom_master.htm)


http://www.rifters.com/behemoth/b_main.htm (http://www.rifters.com/behemoth/b_main.htm)
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: HaRuMaN on August 11, 2011, 04:34:43 pm
I just finished reading Brave New World for the first time a few weeks ago.  Good book.  Picked it up on Paperbackswap...

One book I really liked and I reread from time to time is Macroscope by Piers Anthony.

I've been meaning to read that again for years and years. I had a paperback copy that was my fathers and in absolute decay. Pages aged an off-red, musty smell, holes and stains. It's still out of print, right?

Hmm, I thought it was out of print as well.  Looks like Amazon has them new:

http://www.amazon.com/Macroscope-Piers-Anthony/dp/097236708X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313094821&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Macroscope-Piers-Anthony/dp/097236708X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313094821&sr=8-1)
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: HaRuMaN on August 11, 2011, 04:35:49 pm
Hell yeah, Haruman! Anthony is good. I really liked the Incarnations of Immortality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarnations_of_Immortality (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarnations_of_Immortality)

I just recently read through the series Bio of a Space Tyrant.  Awesome work.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: ark_ader on August 11, 2011, 04:38:30 pm
On holiday I got through Orpheus Rising by Colin Bateman.

And a few volumes of Sams 24hr books on C#, Drupal and PHP.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: shmokes on August 12, 2011, 10:42:42 am

If you dig dystopians like Brave New World, you should try 1984 (if you haven't already).


+1

Between Brave New World, Farenheit 451, and 1984, I think 1984 is in a class of its own.  That it is so frequently frequently associated with those other two books is sort of an injustice.  Not that the others are bad books.  They're just not nearly as good.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: HaRuMaN on August 12, 2011, 10:49:50 am
If you guys want a bunch of old scifi, I've got several shelves I need to clear off.   :P  Tons of Heinlein and Dick.  Decent offer gets a box load.



Interested.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: RayB on August 12, 2011, 12:20:10 pm
Who hasn't read Farenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984? Aren't these all mandatory reading in high school?
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Vigo on August 12, 2011, 12:43:55 pm
In american schools, I don't think mandatory reading exists anymore.  :lol
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: HaRuMaN on August 12, 2011, 12:53:18 pm
Who hasn't read Farenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984? Aren't these all mandatory reading in high school?


I read 1984 in high school, not the other two.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Benevolance on August 12, 2011, 01:28:38 pm
I've always enjoyed Old Man and the Sea. It's not sci-fi, but it's well written.

For the sci-fi fare, I recommend China Mieville's first two books: Perdido Street Station and The Scar.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: knave on August 12, 2011, 01:30:28 pm
I've read 1984 and Farenheit 451 and enjoyed both overall I tend to read a little bit of everything.

Over the last year I've read 1-12 in the dresden files series, just got book 13 those are pretty fun. But if I had to pick out a few that stand out in my memory:

Relic by Douglas Preston was pretty enjoyable as was Absolute Power David Baldacci

I really enjoyed the "Game of thrones" long before the HBO series.

Deathgate Cycle is pretty good, Almost anything by Piers Anthony, Feist and Eddings...

...I recently was given "Enders Game" By Orson Scott Card...I hear that's a classic.

I will read almost like it's an addiction

Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: javeryh on August 12, 2011, 02:27:04 pm
The Harry Potter series. 
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: AtomSmasher on August 12, 2011, 02:32:41 pm
Who hasn't read Farenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984? Aren't these all mandatory reading in high school?

I only read those in highschool because I took SciFi as an elective, otherwise I wouldn't of been required to read any of them.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Rando on August 12, 2011, 03:37:54 pm
The Harry Potter series. 
If you like the HP series you should give Golden Compass a shot.  Movie didn't do it justice so the other 2 books in the trilogy aren't being made I don't believe.  Similar to HP in that you're following a story about kids, but completely different.  And although it's a trilogy, book 2 felt very different from book 1, same for book 3.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: CCM on August 12, 2011, 04:29:53 pm
If you guys want a bunch of old scifi, I've got several shelves I need to clear off.   :P  Tons of Heinlein and Dick.  Decent offer gets a box load.




I don't want anything to do with your Dick, your box, or your load...

ahem... anyway... back on topic...



I just finished The Passage by Justin Cronin.   I really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: drventure on August 12, 2011, 05:01:35 pm
Ender's Game is a good read.

Rendezvous with Rama is also good (but quite old).

Orson Scott Card's PastWatch was very interesting, a unique take on time travel.

Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash is cool if you like Cyberpunk.

Boneshaker has been recommended to me a couple times, I need to check it out. It's a steam punk novel. Not sure how that'd translate to fiction, but I'm curious anyway.

Completely unrelated to SciFi, but if you haven't read Freakonomics, it'll totally turn your head around about a lot of things.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: yotsuya on August 12, 2011, 05:14:52 pm
Hell yeah, Haruman! Anthony is good. I really liked the Incarnations of Immortality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarnations_of_Immortality (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarnations_of_Immortality)

I just recently read through the series Bio of a Space Tyrant.  Awesome work.

A friend of mine bought me that series a few years ago. It was interesting, to say the least.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: crashwg on August 13, 2011, 06:05:04 am
I'd like to start with stating that I am not a reader.  In the past 10 years I think I've read 3 books.  Those books were the Night Angel Trilogy.  I highly recommend them.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: danny_galaga on August 14, 2011, 12:35:18 am

Sci Fi- Timescape by Gregory Benford

non-fiction- On the origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Donkbaca on August 14, 2011, 01:27:52 am
Neuoromancer by William Gibson. Invented the cyber punk genre. Man, I thought you nerds would be all over that
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Donkbaca on August 14, 2011, 03:42:36 am
The book was published in 1984. Weren't most books written on typewritters then? :dunno
I think it's pretty good. I enjoyed his other books, but this one is his best
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: GibsonRiddler on August 14, 2011, 08:44:22 am
Starship Troopers was good. The movie didn't do it justice.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Vigo on August 14, 2011, 04:34:20 pm
American Gods (though it fizzles about 2/3s through) and Illium. 


Neil Gaiman is an excellent author. Funny thing is, a few years back when I was in Wisconsin, I lived in the same podunk town as he did (Menomonie, WI.) If you knew what he looked like, you would see him pop up from time to time. I once saw him in Walmart looking blender and small appliances.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: shmokes on August 15, 2011, 12:35:13 am

I did finally pick up a copy of Stranger in a Strange Land that doesn't appear to have been vandalized, so I'll get to read his anti-christian book in its entirety, too! 


That book is garbage.  Just total crap.  And that's coming from an anti-christian.  Unless you just have a powerful curiosity about it that must be sated, don't waste your time. 
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: HaRuMaN on August 15, 2011, 09:47:48 am

I did finally pick up a copy of Stranger in a Strange Land that doesn't appear to have been vandalized, so I'll get to read his anti-christian book in its entirety, too! 


That book is garbage.  Just total crap.  And that's coming from an anti-christian.  Unless you just have a powerful curiosity about it that must be sated, don't waste your time. 

You are out of your mind...
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Blanka on August 15, 2011, 10:00:27 am
More on topic:
1001 Video Games you must play before you die

I'm not into fiction.

Some interesting Non-Fiction I read during the holiday:
Alain de Botton - Status Anxiety
Alain de Botton - Architecture of happiness
Richard Florida - Rise of the creative class
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Mikezilla on August 15, 2011, 01:19:25 pm
I am currently on Volume 5 of the Complete Clone Saga Epic. It covers the complete clone saga that ran in the early-mid 90's when Spider Man's clone came back and ruined the continuity of the comics.

As you all know, I recently attended the comic con, and I got all of em for 25 bucks!  ;D

Not exactly in the same vein as what you guys are talking about, but hey. Im reading.  :lol
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Donkbaca on August 15, 2011, 02:21:09 pm
Why buy comics when you can download them for free?
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Rando on August 15, 2011, 02:34:08 pm
Why buy comics when you can download them for free?
I would much much much rather read a comic in printed form than online.  I understand the digital media push, but I have zero interest in reading a comic on my screen.  Maybe on an iPad relaxing on my couch, but even then I'd much much rather pull an unread book from my shelf and flip the pages.  Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but holding the book makes it much more real for me and allows me to invest my interest.  Anything on the screen (except for YOU guys of course) is a much more temporary thing to me and doesn't draw me in like that.

PC is for porn & sports.  Movies & TV belong on my wide-screen, and comix in issue or collected volume format PLEASE!  :bat
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Blux on August 15, 2011, 02:40:35 pm
I'm currently reading the entire 33 (34?) book Xanth series by Piers Anthony, then I'm going to follow it up with the entire Ender Game saga, then probably lead into the Shannara series.

All of these books are great.  And the Enders Game saga is truly amazing also.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Mikezilla on August 15, 2011, 03:03:09 pm
Why buy comics when you can download them for free?
I would much much much rather read a comic in printed form than online.  I understand the digital media push, but I have zero interest in reading a comic on my screen.  Maybe on an iPad relaxing on my couch, but even then I'd much much rather pull an unread book from my shelf and flip the pages.  Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but holding the book makes it much more real for me and allows me to invest my interest.  Anything on the screen (except for YOU guys of course) is a much more temporary thing to me and doesn't draw me in like that.

PC is for porn & sports.  Movies & TV belong on my wide-screen, and comix in issue or collected volume format PLEASE!  :bat

Rando. Thats EXACTLY how I feel. Down to the last syllable. I only like to read little factoids on my phone/computer. Im old school in the sense that I like something tangible to posess. You will never find me buying a kindle or any other type of device to read something like a book or even a comic. Thats no fun at all. Good form man.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: shmokes on August 15, 2011, 10:07:07 pm

I did finally pick up a copy of Stranger in a Strange Land that doesn't appear to have been vandalized, so I'll get to read his anti-christian book in its entirety, too!  


That book is garbage.  Just total crap.  And that's coming from an anti-christian.  Unless you just have a powerful curiosity about it that must be sated, don't waste your time.  

You are out of your mind...

I read that, and wondered, "Am I out of my mind?"  So I googled it.  And Wikipedia suggests that I'm not (or at least not alone) via a summary of the New York Times Book Review:

Quote

Writing in The New York Times, Orville Prescott received the novel caustically, describing it as a "disastrous mishmash of science fiction, laborious humor, dreary social satire and cheap eroticism"; he characterized Stranger as "puerile and ludicrous," saying "when a non-stop orgy is combined with a lot of preposterous chatter, it becomes unendurable, an affront to the patience and intelligence of readers.


That's more or less how I feel.  Although I hope that in the full review he had a chance to disparage the absurd, cardboard characters Heinlein created for the book, most notably Jubal Harshaw.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Donkbaca on August 15, 2011, 10:57:46 pm
To each his own, I prefer to read the stuff for free rather than buy something that I will stuff in a box in my garage
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Dervacumen on August 16, 2011, 10:11:02 am
For some reason I decided to re-read a few books that to me seemed to be fantastic.  Do you have any I should read?  I don't care about ratings or critically acclaimed.  It's all about what you really liked or identified with for whatever reason.   For me, there are a few on which I ponder on occasion so I'll start with two of my favorites.  Right now I'm reading Brave New World again.  I's tattered and torn, and the cover is falling off so I have to be careful.  There's something grounding about reading a tattered book now-a-days...


Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.
The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger.



If you dig dystopians like Brave New World, you should try 1984 (if you haven't already).

Yes, I enjoyed 1984 as well.  I read it the first time in, uh 1984.  Nice call.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: yotsuya on August 16, 2011, 10:17:43 am
Yes, I enjoyed 1984 as well.  I read it the first time in, uh 1984.  Nice call.

Me too! I was in the 5th grade!

I reread it every two years or so, and I just started it again last night.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Dervacumen on August 16, 2011, 10:19:37 am
Who hasn't read Farenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984? Aren't these all mandatory reading in high school?


Farenheit 451 and 1984 were required, but I picked up Brave New World on my own.  Maybe that's why I like it more that the other two.  I didn't like Farenheit 451 at all actually. Maybe I'll appreciate it now.

There are some good ideas in this thread.  I've never read any Piers Anthony.  I'm now on a mission.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Dervacumen on August 16, 2011, 10:22:20 am
Yes, I enjoyed 1984 as well.  I read it the first time in, uh 1984.  Nice call.

Me too! I was in the 5th grade!

I reread it every two years or so, and I just started it again last night.
Now I feel even older.  I was a Freshman.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: TopJimmyCooks on August 16, 2011, 10:30:34 am
Heinlein- the earlier and more juvenile stuff holds together the best, but all is worth reading.  I like later novels Friday (tight futurism) and Number of the Beast (more like Stranger).  Fave:  the admittedly milspec Troopers

William Gibson - Bridge, strand, Zero history, all of it.  read it. 

Richard K Morgan - Kovacs novels are farking fun adventure sf.  Prefect novels are ok as well.  He also did a fantasy book with a gay protagonist that showed some spark, can't remember the title, I can handle fantasy as long as it's not too much "Merlin intoned runes from the eldritch scrolls against the troll hordes in books 3, 5 and 9. 

Neal Stephenson - Cryptonomicon and System tril. are must read, the rest is ok.  liked Anathem.

Gaiman - inconsistent, liked the "Gods".  some ok shorts.

Piers, Anne McCaffery, Andre Norton, Asimov (fiction, haven't like his NF and astronomy books as well), I grew up reading their novels and Analog/Asimov's. 

Any PK Dick- come on, bladerunner, ya'll.   

Rudy rucker - robot books are worth reading and interesting

I want to check out GRR martin after watching game of thrones.  seems cool.

Glad to see there's a good amount of SF guys here. 



Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Dervacumen on August 16, 2011, 10:40:06 am
And now for the non-fiction:

Build Your Own Laser, Phaser, Ion Ray Gun & Other Working, Space Age Projects (http://www.amazon.com/Build-Laser-Phaser-Working-Projects/dp/0830606041)
One of these days I may actually build something.

The Birth of the Mind: How a Tiny Number of Genes Creates The Complexities of Human Thought (http://www.amazon.com/Birth-Mind-Creates-Complexities-Thought/dp/B001G8WL3O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313505388&sr=1-1)







Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: shmokes on August 16, 2011, 11:22:02 am
Heinlein- the earlier and more juvenile stuff holds together the best, but all is worth reading

If by "all" you mean "not all" since Stranger, as we've already established, is garbage.   ;D
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Rando on August 16, 2011, 12:44:27 pm
Gaiman - inconsistent, liked the "Gods".  some ok shorts.
Gaiman novels are pretty good IMO.  I haven't read "American Gods" but "Good Omens" (written with Terry Pratchett) is good/funny, "Coraline" is good (creepy & similar to movie) but is kind of a kids book.  "Neverwhere" is interesting and was made into a pretty good but low budget english mini-series.  My wife just finished "The Graveyard Book" which is also supposedly for kids but she liked it and said more creepy than Coraline.  He also writes/wrote comics but those are some of his novels that I'm familiar with.


I'm also a big fan of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the looking Glass" which are two distinct stories (and which "Coraline" above is often compared), not one as usually displayed in movies/cartoons.  Simple quick read and lots of literary oddities and puns and such.

Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: HaRuMaN on August 16, 2011, 02:49:33 pm
Anyone read Heinlein's Have Space Suit - Will Travel? 

It's a bit juvenile, but a funny read, and a pretty good book I thought.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: shmokes on August 16, 2011, 03:46:00 pm
If you hate it why do you use the term 'grok' so much?

 :D


Heh . . . I didn't know he coined the term.  And in the only book of his I've read, no less.  C'est la vie.  There's a lot of sex in that book too, which I also use as often as possible.   :)  The book still sucks balls.

By the way, that middle-aged character of his is a big part of what I disliked about Stranger.  Jubal Harshaw was written in as Heinlein's personal bully pulpit.  The fact that he made him a brilliant medical doctor, brilliant lawyer, brilliant writer, brilliant philosopher, and whatever else that I can't remember because it's been so long, makes the character both unbelievable and embarrassingly self-aggrandizing.  And it's just stupid-lazy writing.  Everything Heinlein wants to personally pontificate about he makes come out of the mouth of an effective god-among-men.  Cos, you know, then it must be right.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Vigo on August 16, 2011, 04:04:48 pm
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 5 part trilogy by Douglas Adams is always very entertaining. They are wholly remarkable books.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: GibsonRiddler on August 16, 2011, 05:01:03 pm
The Postman by David Brin was a good read also. Never saw the movie though.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: danny_galaga on August 18, 2011, 07:25:46 am
Neuoromancer by William Gibson. Invented the cyber punk genre. Man, I thought you nerds would be all over that

A bloody good book for sure. I just figured it went without saying  ;D
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: fallacy on August 18, 2011, 01:24:43 pm
Screw books! I recommend Manga! Read Gantz  http://www.mangareader.net/97-1163-8/gantz/chapter-1.html. (http://www.mangareader.net/97-1163-8/gantz/chapter-1.html.) It reads from left to right.

You don’t need to constantly read about how people are feeling or long drawn out explanation on there facial expiration or the insignificant action they performed. You have pictures telling you all that. You can just read about the story and still use your imagination etc... to fill in the rest.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: shmokes on August 18, 2011, 02:02:02 pm
Wow, that sounds way better.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: yotsuya on August 18, 2011, 02:29:38 pm
The Postman by David Brin was a good read also. Never saw the movie though.

+1.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: danny_galaga on August 20, 2011, 06:30:25 am
Screw books! I recommend Manga! Read Gantz  http://www.mangareader.net/97-1163-8/gantz/chapter-1.html. (http://www.mangareader.net/97-1163-8/gantz/chapter-1.html.) It reads from left to right.

You don’t need to constantly read about how people are feeling or long drawn out explanation on there facial expiration or the insignificant action they performed. You have pictures telling you all that. You can just read about the story and still use your imagination etc... to fill in the rest.


Screw Manga! Just watch TV instead...
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: shmokes on August 20, 2011, 01:53:34 pm
Screw books! I recommend Manga! Read Gantz  http://www.mangareader.net/97-1163-8/gantz/chapter-1.html. (http://www.mangareader.net/97-1163-8/gantz/chapter-1.html.) It reads from left to right.

You don’t need to constantly read about how people are feeling or long drawn out explanation on there facial expiration or the insignificant action they performed. You have pictures telling you all that. You can just read about the story and still use your imagination etc... to fill in the rest.


Screw Manga! Just watch TV instead...

Screw TV!  Just close your eyes and daydream.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: TopJimmyCooks on August 20, 2011, 09:41:04 pm
Screw TV!  Just close your eyes and daydream.

I'd like to but every time I try, I can't see anything but PinballJim's Konkey Dong sideart.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: newmanfamilyvlogs on August 20, 2011, 10:34:44 pm
Screw TV!  Just close your eyes and daydream.

I'd like to but every time I try, I can't see anything but PinballJim's Konkey Dong sideart.

+1
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Samstag on August 21, 2011, 12:52:00 am
on there facial expiration

Could you illustrate your point with a picture?  I can't understand your big words.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: GibsonRiddler on August 21, 2011, 07:13:00 am
Screw TV!  Just close your eyes and daydream.

I'd like to but every time I try, I can't see anything but PinballJim's Konkey Dong sideart.

+1

Sleep did not come easy after seeing that  :scared
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: shmokes on August 21, 2011, 03:47:47 pm
on there facial expiration

Could you illustrate your point with a picture?  I can't understand your big words.

 :laugh2:
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Cakemeister on August 25, 2011, 07:28:54 pm
I read Battlefield Earth every couple of years. Great book. Don't see the movie. :)
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: CCM on August 29, 2011, 10:57:18 pm
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Just read about this book in Time magazine, sounds like it is definitely worth a read.


http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X (http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X)
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: yotsuya on August 29, 2011, 11:34:49 pm
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Just read about this book in Time magazine, sounds like it is definitely worth a read.


http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X (http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X)

Sounds right up my alley. I just picked it up. Thanks!
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: CCM on August 30, 2011, 10:35:49 am
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Just read about this book in Time magazine, sounds like it is definitely worth a read.


http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X (http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X)

Sounds right up my alley. I just picked it up. Thanks!



Let me know what you think of it.   I am planning on throwing on my Kindle to read it when I am done with my current book.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: yotsuya on September 04, 2011, 02:54:04 pm
Ok, I started 'Ready Player One' last night at about 9PM and just finished all 350+ pages right now. It's a fun, easy read with a lot of detail and a lot of reference to a bunch of 80s pop culture. It's a good read, especially if you're in your late 30s and grew up with 80s games, movies, cartoons, and science fiction (I fit that demographic). Teens who are gamers would probably enjoy it as well, especially if their parents fit that demographic and have, over the years, introduced their kids to that stuff.

I'd say it's worth reading.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Dermbrian on September 06, 2011, 03:53:39 pm
Two series that I've read and reread over the years are the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov and the Colossus trilogy by DF Jones.  The book Colossus is what was made into the movie Colossus: The Forbin Project in 1969.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Feltham_Jones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Feltham_Jones)
I have every DF Jones book except "Bond in Time".  Pages are loose in every book I have, but they're all long out of print, I think.

I like it when the two gigantic computers in Colossus, Colossus in the USA and Guardian in the USSR, begin exchanging information in hundreds of words per minute and their teletypes can't keep up.  I wonder what DF Jones would think of my HTC EVO phone vs his mountain-sized computers.

In the Foundation Trilogy books, Isaac Azimov has personal nuclear generators worn as jewelry but still has space pilots calculating routes using slide rules, and really missed the concept of computers entirely but still manages to have human-looking, human-acting robots in his vision of the future.

Brian
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: opt2not on September 06, 2011, 07:06:11 pm
I want to check out GRR martin after watching game of thrones.  seems cool.

Yeah i just finished watching the first season of Game of Thrones, and I'm now really interested in reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The show is fantastic, and I hear the books are better!

I few of my favourite books that I tend to re-read now and again:

Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Blanka on September 07, 2011, 11:33:44 am
(http://ebid.s3.amazonaws.com/upload_big/4/5/2/1300039333-5462-0.jpg)
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: piecesof8 on September 08, 2011, 01:35:36 pm
Yeah i just finished watching the first season of Game of Thrones, and I'm now really interested in reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The show is fantastic, and I hear the books are better!

These books are great - definitely one of the best fantasy series ever written, IMO. I'm a little worried that he'll never finish the story at the rate he's going, though. Be prepared to do some re-reading when the next book comes out in five or six years.  :)
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: wp34 on September 21, 2011, 10:59:55 pm
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Just read about this book in Time magazine, sounds like it is definitely worth a read.


http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X (http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X)

I just started it.  I'm only a few pages in and there has already been references to the Atari 800xl, Defender, Asteroids, Robotron and Adventure from the Atari 2600.  Things that are near and dear to me.  Pretty good so far.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Mikezilla on September 22, 2011, 11:44:54 am
Ok, I started 'Ready Player One' last night at about 9PM and just finished all 350+ pages right now. It's a fun, easy read with a lot of detail and a lot of reference to a bunch of 80s pop culture. It's a good read, especially if you're in your late 30s and grew up with 80s games, movies, cartoons, and science fiction (I fit that demographic). Teens who are gamers would probably enjoy it as well, especially if their parents fit that demographic and have, over the years, introduced their kids to that stuff.

I'd say it's worth reading.

I was born in 1982 and a friend gave me this and I cant put it down. Its a super fun book that I get giddy over. I cant even remember the last time a book got me excited, to where I actually care what happens to the character. Yotsuya isnt giving it enough credit (sorry man) this is a GREAT book. Its stupid good. Buy it now. DO IT.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: yotsuya on September 22, 2011, 12:41:23 pm
Ok, I started 'Ready Player One' last night at about 9PM and just finished all 350+ pages right now. It's a fun, easy read with a lot of detail and a lot of reference to a bunch of 80s pop culture. It's a good read, especially if you're in your late 30s and grew up with 80s games, movies, cartoons, and science fiction (I fit that demographic). Teens who are gamers would probably enjoy it as well, especially if their parents fit that demographic and have, over the years, introduced their kids to that stuff.

I'd say it's worth reading.

I was born in 1982 and a friend gave me this and I cant put it down. Its a super fun book that I get giddy over. I cant even remember the last time a book got me excited, to where I actually care what happens to the character. Yotsuya isnt giving it enough credit (sorry man) this is a GREAT book. Its stupid good. Buy it now. DO IT.

It's a fun book, for sure, and I read it all in two sittings, but it's no Centipede. It's more like a Mortal Kombat. :laugh:
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Mikezilla on September 22, 2011, 12:47:51 pm
Ok, I started 'Ready Player One' last night at about 9PM and just finished all 350+ pages right now. It's a fun, easy read with a lot of detail and a lot of reference to a bunch of 80s pop culture. It's a good read, especially if you're in your late 30s and grew up with 80s games, movies, cartoons, and science fiction (I fit that demographic). Teens who are gamers would probably enjoy it as well, especially if their parents fit that demographic and have, over the years, introduced their kids to that stuff.

I'd say it's worth reading.

I was born in 1982 and a friend gave me this and I cant put it down. Its a super fun book that I get giddy over. I cant even remember the last time a book got me excited, to where I actually care what happens to the character. Yotsuya isnt giving it enough credit (sorry man) this is a GREAT book. Its stupid good. Buy it now. DO IT.

It's a fun book, for sure, and I read it all in two sittings, but it's no Centipede. It's more like a Mortal Kombat. :laugh:

Blasphemer!  :lol Ok what would constitute a Centipede huh? HUH?!?! Mortal Kombat. Pffft. No way. Its at LEAST a Marvel vs Capcom.  ;D :cheers:
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: newmanfamilyvlogs on September 22, 2011, 01:26:17 pm
And neither one of you is going to call it a Joust?

Son I am disappoint
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: CCM on September 22, 2011, 01:27:38 pm
Ok, I started 'Ready Player One' last night at about 9PM and just finished all 350+ pages right now. It's a fun, easy read with a lot of detail and a lot of reference to a bunch of 80s pop culture. It's a good read, especially if you're in your late 30s and grew up with 80s games, movies, cartoons, and science fiction (I fit that demographic). Teens who are gamers would probably enjoy it as well, especially if their parents fit that demographic and have, over the years, introduced their kids to that stuff.

I'd say it's worth reading.

I was born in 1982 and a friend gave me this and I cant put it down. Its a super fun book that I get giddy over. I cant even remember the last time a book got me excited, to where I actually care what happens to the character. Yotsuya isnt giving it enough credit (sorry man) this is a GREAT book. Its stupid good. Buy it now. DO IT.


I feel the same way, I look forward to getting home and reading it everyday.  I was born in 1971, so I was age 9 thru 18 in the 80's and fondly remember all the movies, music, video games, and bad fashion!

I'm about 30% thru the book and loving it!   When I read the Ghostbusters reference on the first page, I was hooked!
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Mikezilla on September 22, 2011, 03:23:54 pm
And neither one of you is going to call it a Joust?

Son I am disappoint

I know, I was going to edit my post to say that but I had to go back to reading.  :cheers:  ;D

@CCM hell yeah dude the Ghostbuster reference right off the bat was great. The Conan references Im at now are giving me a nerd boner.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Rando on September 22, 2011, 03:55:37 pm
@CCM hell yeah dude the Ghostbuster reference right off the bat was great. The Conan references Im at now are giving me a nerd boner.

I'm somewhat disturbed and mildly excited, just added to my Amazon wishlist! :)
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Mikezilla on September 22, 2011, 06:05:53 pm
@CCM hell yeah dude the Ghostbuster reference right off the bat was great. The Conan references Im at now are giving me a nerd boner.

I'm somewhat disturbed and mildly excited, just added to my Amazon wishlist! :)

Rando. You dont even understand how awesome this book is. If I wasnt reading it at work, I would be squealing with glee. Seriously.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: wp34 on September 22, 2011, 08:42:24 pm
@CCM hell yeah dude the Ghostbuster reference right off the bat was great. The Conan references Im at now are giving me a nerd boner.

I'm somewhat disturbed and mildly excited, just added to my Amazon wishlist! :)

Rando. You dont even understand how awesome this book is. If I wasnt reading it at work, I would be squealing with glee. Seriously.

+1   Makes me very happy others feel this way.  It is almost creepy at times because the book seems like it was written for me.

One question --- and I don't really think this is a spoiler -

Who plays Robotron on their laptop for relaxation?  He may have a controller but at the point I'm at it is not mentioned.  I'm picturing using a keyboard in place of two joysticks.  Doesn't sound relaxing to me.
Title: Re: Fantastic books IMO
Post by: Mikezilla on September 23, 2011, 12:18:48 pm
@CCM hell yeah dude the Ghostbuster reference right off the bat was great. The Conan references Im at now are giving me a nerd boner.

I'm somewhat disturbed and mildly excited, just added to my Amazon wishlist! :)

Rando. You dont even understand how awesome this book is. If I wasnt reading it at work, I would be squealing with glee. Seriously.

+1   Makes me very happy others feel this way.  It is almost creepy at times because the book seems like it was written for me.

One question --- and I don't really think this is a spoiler -

Who plays Robotron on their laptop for relaxation?  He may have a controller but at the point I'm at it is not mentioned.  I'm picturing using a keyboard in place of two joysticks.  Doesn't sound relaxing to me.

Haha wp34 I thought the same thing, like the book was written for me. I just finished it, and MAN was it satisfying. The ending blew my mind, so great. The guy that wrote it deserves some kind of reward or medal or something. I just hope they dont ---fudgesicle--- up the movie, which they probably will.