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Vent Noir
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 Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 4:21 am |
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| HiMAT Spammer |
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Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:30 am
Posts: 956
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Okay, since there's not that much new anime, TV or movies that I'm interested in recently, I've been turning my attention toward that big "to read" pile that's been accumulating at the foot of my bed... I'm not a great literary critic by any means, but I'll try and give my thoughts. Recently Finished: Tanya Huff's "A Confederation of Valor" (compilation of "Valor's Choice" and "The Better Part of Valor" - Military SF that's fun and has a lot of action, while not trivialising or glorifying war (which is not an easy balance to pull off). The primary protagonist, Torin Kerr, is tough in a likeable way, although I do wish the suppourting cast hadn't been shunted off in book 2. Currently Reading: Kirsten Cashore's "Graceling" - Fantasy. I'm about a third of the way through this, and really liking this. The main character, Katsa, is "Graced" with combat skills and serves as the king's enforcer, but she has a conscience and doesn't want to just be his thug. I'm really liking her character, and her development so far. Crowning Moment of Awesome at the end of Part 1, when she's brought before the king and about 200 royal guards for disobeying orders, and proceeds to tell him what will happen to those guards if they attempt to kill or imprison her. I know that may make her sound a bit Mary Sue-ish, and yeah, she's been pretty much unbeatable in combat situations so far, but Cashore does a good job of compensating by making her emotionally vulnerable. Admittedly, I do hope she gets to face more of a physical challenge as the book progresses.
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Vent Noir
@AJDynon on Twitter
April 7, 1979: The first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam premieres. Fanboys declare Gundam "Ruined FOREVER".
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CidHighwind
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 6:21 am |
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| Creepy Bishonen |
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Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:58 pm
Posts: 173
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Dragonlance: Dragons of a Hourglass Mage
About time I figured out what was going on when one of my favorite fantasy characters was doing when he finally made his awesome heel turn.
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Fritz Ashlyn
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:58 pm |
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| Traitor Villain |
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Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:32 am
Posts: 3136
Location: Texas Gulf Coast
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Well, I re-read A Confederacy Of Dunces over the week or so of Thanksgiving holiday, but I haven't moved on to another book yet. Living in southeast Texas helps when it comes to "hearing" the characters' accents because of my relative proximity to Louisiana (and the area of New Orleans in particular), and the book was just as funny and well written as the first time I read it. _________________ TftF WikiTftF One ShotsRPG Trinary: Ortega Die Anti-brutale Kraft: Fritz Ashlyn Hey! why don't you swing on down to the RPG section? Tales from the Frontlines: The AEUG running strong since 2006!
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blind_dead_mcjones
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:33 pm |
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| Okawara x Katoki Love Child |
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Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:19 am
Posts: 1078
Location: South Australia
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Terry Pratchett's The Light Fantastic
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Flag Fighter for life!
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Oruma
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Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:28 pm |
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| Pilot's Doomed Girlfriend |
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Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:38 pm
Posts: 443
Location: Vancouver
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blind_dead_mcjones wrote: Terry Pratchett's The Light Fantastic Funny enough, me too! I must admit however that CoM/LF are a bit tedious, for me; I started with the City Watch books and compare to them the earlier CoM/LF just seemed...less refined. Also waiting on the wings: Star Trek Destiny trilogy. I've got the books but don't want to start on them yet.
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"So...what does the Uncertainty Principle really mean?"
"Sorry, I'm not sure."
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Vent Noir
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Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:39 pm |
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| HiMAT Spammer |
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Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:30 am
Posts: 956
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Got through some more of Graceling, and found out some more info on Katsa's Grace... It seems that her grace is "survival", which helps explain her combat skills... I wonder if she can pull something like Suzaku did with his "Live!" geass?
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Vent Noir
@AJDynon on Twitter
April 7, 1979: The first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam premieres. Fanboys declare Gundam "Ruined FOREVER".
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ZeroBusterXX
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Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:56 pm |
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| HiMAT Spammer |
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Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:40 pm
Posts: 825
Location: Indiana, USA
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I've just finished the first two Haruhi novels and I really enjoyed them. I've also started on The Tommyknockers by Stephen King since I've finished up with Haruhi. So far, it's a good read.
_________________ http://ragingpanzer.blogspot.comTaste the haste!
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Kenji
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Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 12:27 am |
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| Traitor Villain |
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Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:20 pm
Posts: 738
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I haven't had much time to read, recently... but I have been tempted to start that copy of Children of Hurin I have lying around. It's also been tempting to shell out the ungodly amount of money for the hardbound "History of Middle-Earth" series... because it'd look good on my shelf. Never said it was logical. 
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"This is the truth! This is my belief. At least for now."
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blind_dead_mcjones
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Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 2:48 am |
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| Okawara x Katoki Love Child |
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Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:19 am
Posts: 1078
Location: South Australia
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Oruma wrote: blind_dead_mcjones wrote: Terry Pratchett's The Light Fantastic Funny enough, me too! I must admit however that CoM/LF are a bit tedious, for me; I started with the City Watch books and compare to them the earlier CoM/LF just seemed...less refined. true that, though do take into account that CoM/LF were the first two books of the entire discworld series, it wasn't until when Mort was written that things started to take off shame he's now writing what will be the last novel of the series...
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Flag Fighter for life!
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Vent Noir
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 3:39 am |
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| HiMAT Spammer |
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Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:30 am
Posts: 956
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Got to the end of Graceling. Very good job with the character of Katsa and her relationship with Po, and of giving Katsa challenges that she couldn't just fight her way out of. I still would have liked to see her get to really cut loose at some point, though.
Now starting on: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. Is "Reality Show where contestants have to kill each other" its own genre yet? And some people might cringe at the fact that there's an endorsement from Stephanie "Twilight" Meyer on the front cover... but I'm liking Katniss so far. Giving the nature of the genre, though, I'll try not to get too attached...
_________________
Vent Noir
@AJDynon on Twitter
April 7, 1979: The first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam premieres. Fanboys declare Gundam "Ruined FOREVER".
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Wings of Fire
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 12:15 pm |
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| Mecha Flunky |
Joined: Mon Dec 07, 2009 12:09 am
Posts: 3
Location: Glasgow
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Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, the narrator is so damned unreliable I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think of the prose, characters or narrative in general. It doesn't help that I'm still inside the first hundred pages and the man has blatently contradicted himself over twenty times so far.
Really good book though.
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TakaTahuNuva
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:29 am |
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| Creepy Bishonen |
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:35 pm
Posts: 234
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Currently I'm reading After the Long Goodbye (the Ghost in the Shell 2 prequel) and Eoin Colfer's And Another Thing.
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ohhhh snap
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Vent Noir
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 3:57 pm |
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| HiMAT Spammer |
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Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:30 am
Posts: 956
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Finished The Hunger Games in a day and a half, so I'd have to say it got me hooked.
Next book to read: The Assassins of Tamurin.
_________________
Vent Noir
@AJDynon on Twitter
April 7, 1979: The first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam premieres. Fanboys declare Gundam "Ruined FOREVER".
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ZeroBusterXX
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:15 pm |
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| HiMAT Spammer |
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Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:40 pm
Posts: 825
Location: Indiana, USA
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TakaTahuNuva wrote: Currently I'm reading After the Long Goodbye (the Ghost in the Shell 2 prequel) and Eoin Colfer's And Another Thing. Colfer's new Hitchhiker's can't possibly be good. I read two chapters of it at the bookstore and put it back on the shelf. It was like he was just imitating Adams' style. _________________ http://ragingpanzer.blogspot.comTaste the haste!
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Antares
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:50 am |
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| Retconned MSV Ace |
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:44 am
Posts: 1636
Location: Finland
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I recently re-read Robin Hobb's Farseer and Tawny Man -trilogies. Good stuff. Waiting for R. Scott Bakker's Judging Eye to come in the mail. And I actually picked up Marx's Das Kapital, although in English. I simply wanted to know what that book is about by reading it myself.
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-We will not be caught by surprise!
*Almost everyone I've killed uttered similar last words.
-Then I am glad once again that you are on my side.
*They've often said that too.
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UC fan
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:53 am |
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| AEUG Slapping Boy |
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Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:42 pm
Posts: 118
Location: Indiana
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I just recently read The Incredible Hulk: What Savage Beast by Peter David, that book is so awesome it makes me want to read it again and again.
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Crusader
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:32 pm |
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| AEUG Slapping Boy |
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:17 pm
Posts: 124
Location: Princeton TX,
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Currently reading...
Dead City by Joe Mckinney, needed something zombiefied cause i like that sort of stuff.
Dragonlance: The Gargoyle King, by Richard A. Knaak. It seems like i have been waiting for this book for the greater part of a year.
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Dendrobium Stamen
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 8:39 pm |
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| Mysterious Masked Dude |
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Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:22 pm
Posts: 524
Location: Armoury One, L4.
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Currently I'm reading Battle Royale, the original novel. In some ways, very different from the better-known (and awesome) film. In other ways, notably the set-piece deaths, very similar, although the book has free reign to be rather gorier in its prose... and is.
Other books read recently include Battlecruiser by Douglas Reeman, an excellent novel set aboard one of the Royal Navy's eponymous ships during WWII, and written by a WWII Senior Service veteran to boot! Also, Tomino's Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy, which I always prefer to the original anime, though the novels aren't without their flaws.
_________________ "Trust me, I know what I'm doing." - Sledge Hammer.
A Wind Raging Through, a Destiny sidestory.
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Vent Noir
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:06 am |
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| HiMAT Spammer |
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Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:30 am
Posts: 956
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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About 3/4 of the way through The Assassins of Tamurin, and... I've just realised I'm not enjoying it. It's not as if the detailed scenery or the core relationship is badly done, but... it's just taking up too much space, and I'm not enjoying it. I'm seriously considering dropping this, and going onto Fire, the prequel to Graceling.
_________________
Vent Noir
@AJDynon on Twitter
April 7, 1979: The first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam premieres. Fanboys declare Gundam "Ruined FOREVER".
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thanatos
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:45 am |
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| Newtype Emo Guy |
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Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:57 pm
Posts: 319
Location: Canada
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I'm about to start Merchant of Death. The book about the life and times of Victor Bout.
It was the basis of the movie Lord of War. I loved the movie so hopefully the book will be as entertaining and much more informative.
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Aspiring CGO "Chief Gundam Officer"
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