Heartland

Onager, are the books anything like the show? I've been meaning to give 'em a try sometime, I see them in the bookstore all the time.

Finally started this and it's been well worth the wait

and

I tried reading a couple of Beevor books but wan't that impressed - Cornelius Ryan covers a lot of the same ground with a lot more colour and detail.

Recently finished:



Very good even though I primarily read the footnotes first time through.

Next:

Quiff Boy wrote:

James Blast wrote:this way madness lies Boss

the mountains of madness?

A story I have read over and overagain,across the last twenty years.I have been a Lovecraft fan for over half a century,the aforementioned story,The Rats In The Walls,The Call Of Cthulhu etc etc Fantasic stuff.

Big Si wrote:

Finally started this and it's been well worth the wait

The Land Leviathan won't disappoint either. I felt The Steel Tsar was dragging and I'd been there before but today (around 60 pages in) it took off. MM really is/was a damn fine writer of science fiction.

of course this rediscovery of WotA and its other twa parts are aw doon tae yirsel

czuczu wrote:I tried reading a couple of Beevor books...

It may be childish, but that makes me snigger.

czuczu wrote:

I really enjoyed Greek Street. Apparently the series has been cancelled, though - there might be one more trade collection after this one, but that's it.

Oh come on Mark, Ozzy doesn't even know he's Ozzy

On the pile to read this month are 3 novels by Arturo Perez-Reverte: The Fencing Master, The Club Dumas, and The Flanders Panel. Never read anything by Perez-Reverte, but heard good things about him and his intellectual thrillers.

Also coming up are Ink by Hal Duncan. I enjoyed Vellum, the first book in the The Book of all Hours series (think Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius meets China Mieville), so I'm hoping this continues the goodness.

I really enjoyed The Club Dumas; it's quite funny in places. More than anything, it reminded me of Eco's Foucault's Pendulum.

All I'm reading right now are academic philosophy books.

sultan2075 wrote:I really enjoyed The Club Dumas; it's quite funny in places. More than anything, it reminded me of Eco's Foucault's Pendulum.

Foucault's Pendulum is an all time fave of mine, so I'm looking forward to The Club Dumas even more now

lazarus corporation wrote:

sultan2075 wrote:I really enjoyed The Club Dumas; it's quite funny in places. More than anything, it reminded me of Eco's Foucault's Pendulum.

Foucault's Pendulum is an all time fave of mine, so I'm looking forward to The Club Dumas even more now

I guess I'd describe it as a less ponderous and more lighthearted version of Foucault's Pendulum. In fact.... Eco himself makes a very brief appearance

That's a very minor detail in the small text. I've done that so you can avoid it if you'd like.

after all you lot waffling on about him i figured i'd give it a whirl



enjoying it so far






using the kindle app on the ipad, no less

Quiff Boy wrote:after all you lot waffling on about him i figured i'd give it a whirl



enjoying it so far

good place to start. unlike excession, which was the first culture book i read

Excession is one of my favourites. Especially going back through afterwards and working out what order everything happens, and who is working for which Mind.

Anyhoo: CR: Malory's Morte d'Arthur

Zbigniew Brzezinski - Between Two Ages

markfiend wrote:Excession is one of my favourites

same here

but it's not the best introduction to the Culture imho, partly because of the exchanges between the Minds and partly because of the nonlinear narrative style. the sheer number of characters can be a tad ovewhelming too.

Consider Phlebas aside, The Player of Games could also be a good intro to the Culture because it's more easily accessible than the other books. and it's got one of my favourite Culture characters, flere imsaho (i'd rather not say any more in case i give away any spoilers)

No you're probably right.

Probably the best thing to do is read them in publication order.

IZ.

markfiend wrote:No you're probably right.

Probably the best thing to do is read them in publication order.

that was the theory i as working towards

although i do think i've read a culture book a long time ago... maybe early/mid 90s... 'the player of games' sounds vaguely familiar so it could have been that one, but i can't remember anything about it now

The Culture novels (in order of publication)

Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
The State of the Art (Short story collection: only 3 stories are Culture-based)
Excession
Inversions (not labelled as a Culture novel by Banks but (Spoiler) two of the characters turn out to be Culture Special Circumstances agents)
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail (the new one I've not read yet)

hmmm...