What you are Reading, Discussion, Reviews, and Recomendations

[abacusand13south]

All of you from the original forum know what this is about but for some new people, here you post what you are reading, have recently read, are looking to read, and can ask for recomendations to what you should be reading. We talk Novels, Comics, Trades, Graphic Novels and anything else you can read. I tend to write a mini review of what ive read but that is not required.

So since the demise of the old thread (which all 18 pages can be found here http://www.onewhowaits.com/geekdrome...php?thread=260) I have read,

JLA Earth 2, an Original Graphic Novel by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly where the normal Justice League of American gets transported into Earth 3 where they meet the Crime Syndicate of America which is the mirror villian versions of the JLA. Its really good and one of the best Morrison work ive read and is very accesible for a Morrison work, this is also probably the 2nd best I have ever seen Quietlys work. My favorite would be WE3 which was also written by Morrison.

Punisher Vol 1. Hardcover, It collects the complete Welcome Back Frank storyline which was the beginning of Ennis run on Punisher. It pretty much re-starts the punisher after years of shitty generic stories. It involves the Frank huntind down Ma Gnucci and the appearance of 3 punisher like vigilantes. Not to mention the art is done by Steve Dillon who also Co-Created and did all the art in Preacher (besides the mini series' and one shots of course) so you cant really go wrong with it.

[dicknixon]

Thanks for starting this up again. I am such a comics / reading nerd and this thread (the old version) gave me so many good books to check out.

Since last time I've read the Plague by Albert Camus, which surprised me if only because I didn't realise it was written in the 1940s and so I was expecting some 'Old Timey' language. It's a great book and not too far away from some of the SF and Fantasy stuff I usually read.

I am about to start The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl (one of my favourite writers) and also Fury by Garth Ennis (one of my favourite comics writers). So those should be good.

[proglodyte]

I am currently reading for about the 5th time George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. I am on book 3, "A Storm of Swords" right now. These books are some of the best fantasy literature written since Tolkien, IMO. I cannot wait for book 5 to come out.

[dicknixon]

Originally Posted by proglodyte

I am currently reading for about the 5th time George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. I am on book 3, "A Storm of Swords" right now. These books are some of the best fantasy literature written since Tolkien, IMO. I cannot wait for book 5 to come out.

I started the first one and got into it them realised that he hadn't even finished the series so I decided to wait until all the books were out. I am so impatient that I couldn't start reading something them have to wait. I barely manage with comics - a whole book series would be unbearable. I was the same way with the Dark Tower. I read books 1-4 then I had to wait for the last 3, so I didn't read them as they came out but waiting until they were all done them read it from the start again.

[proglodyte]

Originally Posted by dicknixon

I was the same way with the Dark Tower. I read books 1-4 then I had to wait for the last 3, so I didn't read them as they came out but waiting until they were all done them read it from the start again.

Man, you did that series the easy way. I am a guy who read The Gunslinger when it first came out. 20-plus years to complete a literary journey was maddening for me.

[fluxcapacitor]

Originally Posted by proglodyte

I am currently reading for about the 5th time George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. I am on book 3, "A Storm of Swords" right now. These books are some of the best fantasy literature written since Tolkien, IMO. I cannot wait for book 5 to come out.

I love these books too. I also can't wait for number 5. ASOIAF and LOTR are pretty much the only fantasy books I've read, and I like ASOIAF better. I really like that nothing is black and white in Martin's books. Even though the Starks are kind of "the good guys" and the Lannisters are kind of "the bad guys", there's all kinds of people in the middle and traitors on both sides. And I love that he's not afraid to just kill off anyone at any time.

[proglodyte]

Originally Posted by fluxcapacitor

I love these books too. I also can't wait for number 5. ASOIAF and LOTR are pretty much the only fantasy books I've read, and I like ASOIAF better. I really like that nothing is black and white in Martin's books. Even though the Starks are kind of "the good guys" and the Lannisters are kind of "the bad guys", there's all kinds of people in the middle and traitors on both sides. And I love that he's not afraid to just kill off anyone at any time.

I can probably venture to say that I like ASOIAF better than LOTR myself. I also love that Martin is not afraid to take risks and kill off major characters. It's also great how you think you know so much about a character and know how you feel about them, only to have that completely turned around on you when you read their point-of-view chapters. Jaime Lannister is a big case in point for me. I hated that guy until we got his POV chapters in book 3.

[fluxcapacitor]

Originally Posted by proglodyte

It's also great how you think you know so much about a character and know how you feel about them, only to have that completely turned around on you when you read their point-of-view chapters. Jaime Lannister is a big case in point for me. I hated that guy until we got his POV chapters in book 3.

Definitely.

The only let down in the series for me was how book 4 was split into 2 books. So many of my favorite characters were missing. And even though Arya was there, she barely had any chapters.

Any predictions on when book 5 will come out? I had A Feast For Crows reserved from the library in December of 2002 and I had to wait 3 years for that damn book to come out.

[fluxcapacitor]

I was waiting for the resurrection of this thread.

I read the 2nd and 3rd Preacher trades recently. Wow. I love these books. Jesse telling the story of his childhood with Gran'ma in book 2 was insane. And so was the shit that Cassidy goes through in book 3 at the hands of the Grail. Awesome stuff.

I've already said this, but to me it is on another level from the other comics I've read. I ordered volumes 4, 5 and 6 and hopefully will get them this week.

[satori]

never read the Hellraiser stuff except for the occasional issue... have gone back and picked all the trades up.

On a more cerebral level I'm reading: The Trouble with Physics : The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next

this thing is a really great study.