mjmooney Posted September 10, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 10, 2016 My views on the JFK thing have been seriously screwed by reading James Ellroy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 1 hour ago, mjmooney said: My views on the JFK thing have been seriously screwed by reading James Ellroy. I've got those books in my Amazon wish list and never quite taken the plunge ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted September 10, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 10, 2016 Can anyone recommend an author similar to Terry Pratchett, ideally one relatively early in their career whose books haven't become crazy expensive yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 hmm, if you've read Terry P I guess you've read Neil Gaiman as well, as they worked together on Good Omens. He's good. Hard to find a good alternative, but I've read a couple of books by Christopher Brookmyre and they've had a good combo of satire, comedy and random violence occasionally. Not really fantasy based mind. Pandaemonium was a good read I think. I'm sure better other suggestions will be available soon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted September 11, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 11, 2016 Love Gaiman. I'll take a look at Brookmyre. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC_Hitz Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 China Mieville is worth a shout, too. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted September 12, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 12, 2016 2 minutes ago, AVFC_Hitz said: China Mieville is worth a shout, too. I've got Perdido Street Station lined up on my 'to read' shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted September 12, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 12, 2016 I like Mieville but absolutely could understand why many wouldn't. He a very long winded world builder writer that likes his particularly bizarre creations and concepts which leads his books to verge on slogs. It took me well over a year to read Perdido Street Station on and off. He creates an interesting world that's quite unlike anything else but it is a bit indulgent for what is ultimately a simple story as he adds layers of colour to the world that's ultimately inconsequential to the plot. 47 minutes ago, mjmooney said: I've got Perdido Street Station lined up on my 'to read' shelf. I'll be interested to see what you make of it. I have my inklings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted September 12, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 12, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, Chindie said: I like Mieville but absolutely could understand why many wouldn't. He a very long winded world builder writer that likes his particularly bizarre creations and concepts which leads his books to verge on slogs. It took me well over a year to read Perdido Street Station on and off. He creates an interesting world that's quite unlike anything else but it is a bit indulgent for what is ultimately a simple story as he adds layers of colour to the world that's ultimately inconsequential to the plot. I'll be interested to see what you make of it. I have my inklings. I'm wary of it - even more so after your comments. I suspect it might be like a poor man's Gormenghast (which I hated and abandoned). Then again, I did like M. John Harrison's 'Viriconium', and that's in the same ballpark. Edited September 12, 2016 by mjmooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted September 12, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 12, 2016 3 hours ago, Chindie said: I like Mieville but absolutely could understand why many wouldn't. He a very long winded world builder writer that likes his particularly bizarre creations and concepts which leads his books to verge on slogs. It took me well over a year to read Perdido Street Station on and off. He creates an interesting world that's quite unlike anything else but it is a bit indulgent for what is ultimately a simple story as he adds layers of colour to the world that's ultimately inconsequential to the plot. I'll be interested to see what you make of it. I have my inklings. Doesn't sound like he is the author for me, I like interesting worlds but prefer lighter books that are easier to dip in and out of. Being dyslexic I find some books hard to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted September 12, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 12, 2016 4 hours ago, mjmooney said: I'm wary of it - even more so after your comments. I suspect it might be like a poor man's Gormenghast (which I hated and abandoned). Then again, I did like M. John Harrison's 'Viriconium', and that's in the same ballpark. I've not read Gormenghast (it's on my shelf awaiting a bunch of other stuff being read first...) but largely know what the world of that story is... it's not the comparison I'd draw. Mieville is very much dealing with traditional fantasy foundations of establishing a fantastical world, but it's very different to most other things. It's steampunk crossed with the weirder bits of Lovecraft smashed into mild political and societal commentary. Where Tolkein has elves, dwarfs and ents, Mieville has surly cactus people who live in a ghetto, scarab headed model like women who communicate by releasing scents and doing semaphore with their insect body heads, proud near libertarian bird people... and weirder than that. He develops whole political forces and builds the society of New Crobuzon in detail. The story of Perdido Street Station is quite a simple one, but he hangs subplots off it where he dives into the interests of his characters - a subplot deals with the exact nature of a bird person that becomes part of the cast, for example, that doesn't really do much than elaborate on that bit of his world and give some character development. The actual story given to say, Pratchett, would be half the length, if not more. Probably not as rich, and probably not as 'well' written (by which I mean Mieville's writing is 'worthier' than anything Pratchett did), but he'd get to the same plot done and he'd be able to make the same points Mieville wants to. I feel like I'm being very critical to the extent I don't like it - I do. The world created is interesting, I think some it (the bug women, notably) is daft, but the world is believable to the nth degree. The plot lets him deal with lots of world building and lets him play with the ideas and thats all he needs it to do. He wanted to create a world but needed a plot to drive things so he takes something very simple and sees where that can take him. Ultimately it's far too long and wordy, it doesn't need to be 900 pages, but then if you're trying to build a world where everything, literally everything, is bizarre and everything is some metaphor or tool in the cogs of some wider commentary, the words add up... I'd certainly try it, you might adore it, but I could also see as many people getting 50, 100 pages in and hurling at it the bin with extreme prejudice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted September 12, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 12, 2016 3 hours ago, Rds1983 said: Doesn't sound like he is the author for me, I like interesting worlds but prefer lighter books that are easier to dip in and out of. Being dyslexic I find some books hard to read. It's heavier going than Pratchett. Pratchett is my favourite author, I adore more or less everything he wrote, Mieville is selling to a different audience. Where Pratchett dealt in satire (starting as pisstakes of the fantasy genre, before slowly becoming satires of modern life concepts and then more barbed commentary on the modern world and it's institutions) Mieville is dealing with grand political concepts whilst also just going balls out to do something different to usual fantasy stuff. I'd try it. You might find yourself lost in the world and the commentary is usually subtle enough you don't notice it. Or you might read 3 pages of a fat man describing the beetle woman he just **** and what she does in her day to da, sculpting with her spit mostly, and decide you're happier with Pratchett's Night Watch and rural witch coven poking fun at folklore and modern society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Finished this last night, good book actually, woman falls in love with a psychopath, goes crazy herself, it's I was expecting the book itself to verge on the side of batshit crazy but it was actually pretty grounded. The story is told from the perspective of the womans shrink after all of the events have occured, I struggled with the first 1/3 of it but then really motored through the rest. it was hard to feel sorry for the majority of the characters and the main woman came across to me as a real villain even though it was the illness and not her if that makes sense. started this just this morning Quote Created by an Irish clergyman, Melmoth is one of the most fiendish characters in literature. In a satanic bargain, Melmoth exchanges his soul for immortality. The story of his tortured wanderings through the centuries is pieced together through those who have been implored by Melmoth to take over his pact with the devil. Influenced by the Gothic romances of the late 18th century, Maturin's diabolic tale raised the genre to a new and macabre pitch. Its many admirers include Poe, Balzac, Oscar Wilde and Baudelaire. I've got a feeling it's going to be a tough read, originially released in 1820, I'm looking forward to it though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 ^ Sounds a bit like Doctor Faustus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knoppy1987 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-6d083913-0bfb-4988-8cd8-d126fa6dcff1 I enjoy these BBC articles from time to time. As this one was a playground joke when I was growing up, it was interesting to learn a little more about how it all came about. His name was used in excess at school and when out and about with mates - as much as the popular Everton and Liverpool players at the time; Joe Max Moore and Bjorne Tore Kvarme. I really had no idea how much social media had enhanced an odd persons profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Quote An elderly, incontinent Elvis Aaron Presley teams up with an deeply incognito John Fitzgerald Kennedy to defend their East Texas nursing home from an ancient Egyptian soul-sucking mummy. This is the short story that became the cult classic major motion picture, inspiring a generation of care-givers, archaeologists, and public servants. TCB. Someone told me to watch the film on YouTube and I discovered it was a book (well short story, I think it clocks in at about 150 pages) so I thought I'd read it before I watched it. Elvis is an old miserable bastard who may not actually be Elvis but an Elvis impersonator who fell off stage and broke his hip and convinced himself that he was the real deal. JFK is alive and well, his brain is in a jar and wired up to batteries in the white house, his own head is now filled with sand...oh yeah...this JFK is black as well Thing is there is a mummy dressed like a cowboy sucking people souls out through their ass holes, on that basis why couldn't it be the real Elvis and black JFK Not really my sort of book but it passed an hour or so on a boring Sunday afternoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted September 19, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted September 19, 2016 16 hours ago, leemond2008 said: Someone told me to watch the film on YouTube and I discovered it was a book (well short story, I think it clocks in at about 150 pages) so I thought I'd read it before I watched it. Elvis is an old miserable bastard who may not actually be Elvis but an Elvis impersonator who fell off stage and broke his hip and convinced himself that he was the real deal. JFK is alive and well, his brain is in a jar and wired up to batteries in the white house, his own head is now filled with sand...oh yeah...this JFK is black as well Thing is there is a mummy dressed like a cowboy sucking people souls out through their ass holes, on that basis why couldn't it be the real Elvis and black JFK Not really my sort of book but it passed an hour or so on a boring Sunday afternoon One of the rare additions to the film is better list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Anyone every read a short story called "1922" by Stephen king ? It was horrifyingly good & this is the 1st horror type book that actually made me stop reading and take a break now and then becasue it is so plausible. It's about a farmer, some land and some choices made. 9/10 but should have been longer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 (edited) I've read a couple of good books: The Girl with All the Gifts - MR Carey. Virus, post-apocalypse, etc... but done from the viewpoint of an infected. character-driven (even if a bit cliched in places). The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North. Very original and interesting concept. The title is to be taken literally. Edited September 22, 2016 by ender4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 22 hours ago, ender4 said: I've read a couple of good books: The Girl with All the Gifts - MR Carey. Virus, post-apocalypse, etc... but done from the viewpoint of an infected. character-driven (even if a bit cliched in places). The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North. Very original and interesting concept. The title is to be taken literally. I was going to read the girl with all the gifts and then they started filming the movie outside where I work (Livery Street) and there were shit zombie models strewn all over the place, didn't look all that apocalyptic and all looked a bit cheap, it put me off it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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