Books!

[Jmustang1968]

Yeah the Dresden Files are great, easy reads. Reminds me of Buffy, fantasy in a modern setting with lots of witty dialog and great characters. I'm several behind on this series, I think there are like 14 books. I should see about getting them on Audible, as I don't really read that much any more.

I dig the comparison of Dresden to Buffy. Popcorn supernatural action with some witty humor.

Forgot to mention I read the first book in The Expanse series, The Leviathan Wakes. This has gained popularity as folks are claiming the show on Sci fi is the next BSG. Altough it's on cable, Netflix is somehow involved with the TV show deal as well.

The first book was definitely worth a read. No spoilers here, but I have to say it almost felt like 2 books. About 3/4 of the way through it takes a hardcore sci fi turn where the book up to that point had been mostly cyberpunk space travel & space military action. Worth looking at for fans of space genres:

These are great so far, about to start the 3rd book. Only watched the first 2 episodes of the show, but stopped as they have some differences, and didnt want to get it muddied up.

[Jagosaurus]

One of the authors of the Expanse series was on a podcast I listen to. James SA Corey is a pen name. The books are are actually co-authored. The podcast was very interesting. A lot of thought went into the universe and what it would take to explore space and have a mars colony. IIRC one of them has a physics background or they consulted with a physicist perhaps? That is what really got me to read the first book.

I also didn't end up watching the syfy show. I heard they mix a lot from future info (via some reddit posts) and I didn't want to spoil any later books or plot points.

I will eventually circle back around to the series. I'm going to finish LOTR and then I'm tempted to start Dune. That's another one I can't believe I have never read. The Expanse is an easy read though so I might dig back into it after Tolkien's level of detail for 2,000 pages .

[Markies]

Up next, I am going to catch up with the famous Dan Brown books. Up first, 'Angels & Demons'. I am fairly excited for this one as I think it will be an interesting read and something unique. It is outside of my comfort zone and more recent than my normal books, but I have heard wonderful things about the book. It should be interesting to say the least.

5.5 Months for a Book? That could be much better. However, considering the recent upheaval in my life, I don't feel too bad.



Overall, I think I really liked the book. It flowed very nicely and it felt like a quick read. I really liked the historical aspects in the book. I loved learning all the behind the scenes stuff in the Vatican and Illuminati history. That was absolutely fascinating and unbelievably interesting.

Some of the stuff was a little too far fetched. The amount of times that the main character should have died was absolutely insane. He's a Harvard Professor in Old Languages, not Superman. Also, the Assassin, CERN Director and Carmalengo were a little too much like caricatures for me.

One of my all time favorite movies is Seven and this book feels very much like it. I love thriller/killer books/movies where the killer uses unique ways of the past to murder his victims. I love when the killer thinks out his crimes and not just kills some teenagers on a camp.

It's silly and I think you need to turn your brain off for some of it, but I liked it. The book is a quick read and a good change of pace. Not bad, but I understand its faults.

So, the main reason for me reading Angels and Demons is for my next book. I bought them together and I'm going straight into it. Time for the big one. Here goes. My next book is the next Robert Langdon book, The Da Vinci Code!

[Jagosaurus]

@ Markies, ever see the plagiarism case for his works? His wife (she does a lot of his research) essentially took the background bloodline story from the book The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail which is also a best seller. It is interesting case law. To get even weirder... Baigent & Leigh (HB, HG authors) sued Dan Brown's publisher not Dan... which was also their own publisher! It was their historical theory and Brown wrote a novel around it, based on "a combination of research sources" (paraphrase). The judge ended up saying you can't copyright history, but it wasn't (still isn't) recognized as history. That ruling also essentially confirmed he did use their works to form his but it wasn't grounds to sue on copyright. Just odd all around. I think it's all extremely circumstantial any way and revolves around the words holy grail being a mistranslation of royal bloodline. I've never read any of the 3 books in question. Just pointing out something I found interesting.

[Markies]

Huh! I never knew that. Wow, I just read the Wikipedia article on it and that is incredibly fascinating.

I've never read the original nor have I read the Da Vinci Code, obviously, and I completely agree with you. I think it is very circumstantial. I can see how the original authors had a point, but I don't see concrete evidence from one to another.

The amount of times writers have taken old ideas and made something similar but slightly unique is astronomical. That is just how writing goes.

But, thank you for the side note. It's got me even more interested to read the book now.

[Jagosaurus]

Well, finally back to Lord of the Rings!

After Hurricane Harvey I didn't have much spare time and when I did, I was in the mood to veg out with mindless TV. Finally getting into LOTR Two Towers again about 2.5 months later!

Fortunately, LOTR is really 6 books, not 3. Each novel is broken up into 2 books. I was right at book IV (second part of Towers) so I don't feel like I have to refresh my memory as I was at a stopping point. What a great series . Tolkien was half a century ahead of his time!

[Markies]

Tolkien was half a century ahead of his time!

Absolutely! I loved the Peter Jackson movies, including the Hobbit ones even though they were padded a bit too much.

But, I think the books surpassed them so much. When I got into reading after college, the LOTR series was one of the first ones I started reading and they are fantastic. They can be a bit weird in times, but overall, the archetype of any fantasy novel!

[Xeogred]

I've ordered the first Thrawn trilogy book Heir to the Empire to start digging into some Star Wars books. Darth Plagueis and Shadows of the Empire (loved the game) both sound really good too. What Star Wars books do you guys recommend? Is Kyle Katarn a big deal in any of them?

[Jagosaurus]

The Star Wars books are a rabbit hole. I'm personally not into them but I have a cousin who has been reading them for 20+ years. IIRC, several of them were just recently classified as "non cannon" with the 3 latest movies, but they were official story beforehand.

Should mention I finished Lord of the Rings! Wrapped up Return of the King last week. I enjoyed them but won't be one of those people re-reading them annually. I still do need to read The Hobbit at some point. What a universe he created.

[Pulsar_t]

Up next, I am going to catch up with the famous Dan Brown books. Up first, 'Angels & Demons'. I am fairly excited for this one as I think it will be an interesting read and something unique. It is outside of my comfort zone and more recent than my normal books, but I have heard wonderful things about the book. It should be interesting to say the least.

5.5 Months for a Book? That could be much better. However, considering the recent upheaval in my life, I don't feel too bad.



Overall, I think I really liked the book. It flowed very nicely and it felt like a quick read. I really liked the historical aspects in the book. I loved learning all the behind the scenes stuff in the Vatican and Illuminati history. That was absolutely fascinating and unbelievably interesting.

Some of the stuff was a little too far fetched. The amount of times that the main character should have died was absolutely insane. He's a Harvard Professor in Old Languages, not Superman. Also, the Assassin, CERN Director and Carmalengo were a little too much like caricatures for me.

One of my all time favorite movies is Seven and this book feels very much like it. I love thriller/killer books/movies where the killer uses unique ways of the past to murder his victims. I love when the killer thinks out his crimes and not just kills some teenagers on a camp.

It's silly and I think you need to turn your brain off for some of it, but I liked it. The book is a quick read and a good change of pace. Not bad, but I understand its faults.

So, the main reason for me reading Angels and Demons is for my next book. I bought them together and I'm going straight into it. Time for the big one. Here goes. My next book is the next Robert Langdon book, The Da Vinci Code!

Dan Brown is the definition of far-fetched That said, just started reading his latest novel. The thing with mainstream novels is that you know how they will end 99% of the time.