What 'cha readin'?

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:27 pm

i've not read a lot of science fantasy books before, lots of sci fi, but i always thought dragons and elves were a little weird, but i'm definitely enjoying the books right now. I'm waiting for Eragon to get to our dollar theatre, then i'll see it.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:29 pm

Skip Eragon, unless you love dragons and Jeremy Irons. The dragon effects kick ass. Story's not too good and the acting's only so-so (Jeremy Irons aside...Jeremy Irons always kicks ass).

Currently reading the latest issue of <i>Dressage Today</i>, got it open to an interview with Ernst Hoyos, formerly of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. You know...where the Lipizzaners are...

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:27 am

right...the Lipizzaners....

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:33 am

(grumble) off to Wikipedia I go...

(Hey, they have the history of saffron on their front page!)

B.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:42 am

I'm just wild about saffron...

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:58 am

wow, those horses are pretty amazing. learn something new everyday!

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:03 pm

They are rather pretty, aren't they?

B.

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:20 pm

yes, i like the all white one on the wikipedia page. soo pretty.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:21 am

Backyard Ballistics...If the wind calms down, I've GOT to try making and launching a Cincinatti Fire Kite!
Champing the bit (to continue the horsy part of the thread) for the new issue of CRAFT to arrive- It's already on the newsstand, dammit!

helitack · Post by **helitack** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:28 am

Well, I started this one a couple of days ago

Mad Yankees : The Hartford Retreat for the Insane and nineteenth-century psychiatry
by Lawrence B Goodheart

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 8:26 am

anybody read the newest Michael Crichton book 'Next?' It has some really freaky ideas in it that could very easily become reality. Even more amazing is when you think he is making something up, but then you get to the back of the book and see links for websites he used to get info for. I mean, who would have thought that people had already made transgenic plants and animals.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 3:59 pm

I recommend Sam Hurt's Eyebeam.
If you can't find the books-

http://www.eyebeam.com/1984/index.php?num=1

K-mom · Post by **K-mom** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:48 pm

Michael Crighton's good for that stuff. The problem is reading through the awfully mediocre plot of most of his books. I made the mistake of reading a CliVe Cussler novel in high school and a lot of M.C.'s plots feel similar. Often I just wish he would write up a story outline or idea and hand it over to an original writer, like Neal Stephenson or Neil Gaiman. Hell, just look up someone named Neil in the phone book and get them to do it.
Though really, I still count Jurassic Park and The Great Train Robbery as two of my favorite reads.

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:06 am

ugh, Neil Gaiman may be original but that doesnt help his book 'American Gods' to not suck. Maybe the plot of that one was just too much for me, but i didn't really enjoy it. (although i have to admit the end was pretty cool because i have been to the tourist trap where the 'big fight' takes place)

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:36 am

Entertaining as he is the problem I have with Crighton is that after he writes about something he always seems to end up in the position of 'expert' or 'authority' in what he's written about. That's kinda BS when what you write about is science fiction. It also sucks that his public positions on global warming are (or seem to be) based on a single piece of fiction he recently wrote. Those who'd argue against climate change as a result of man's undertakings continually line thier already thin arguments with a endless list of quotes attribute to Crighton.

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:42 pm

i see where you are coming from Badger. I wouldn't go as far as to say that he is an 'expert' on global warming, but he certainly knows a hell of a lot more about it than the general public (myself included). You do have to admit though that he used some very interesting sources when doing research for that book, really makes you think about things.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 9:50 pm

skeetsh00ter wrote:wow, those horses are pretty amazing. learn something new everyday!

You should try riding one. It's an equestrian's wet dream!
I just realized, Lipizzaners are almost like the connection between Eragorn and Saphira: telepathic! You just think, "Go faster" or "Go right" and they do it...

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:27 pm

I wouldn't go as far as to say that he is an 'expert' on global warming, but he certainly knows a hell of a lot more about it than the general public (myself included). You do have to admit though that he used some very interesting sources when doing research for that book, really makes you think about things.

Nor would I. The point I was hoping to make is that his sources are all pretty solid but if you look at those sources beyond skimming them in the back of the book I think you'll find a slant - a bias - that serves only to serve his story line. Granted, his isn't an academic tome by any measure but one would think if you're going to write with some authority you might consider NOT stacking your sources in such a one-sided manner.

cowboyangel · Post by **cowboyangel** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:26 pm

Harvest of Empire, Juan Gonzales

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:27 pm

well of course his sources are 'slanted', i mean, he wants to provide things that aid his plot, but as i recall (its been a while since i read this, sorry if i'm making it up) some of his sources were from NASA and the EPA...both very reputable sources (again...i'm drunk, these both might be made up, correct me if im wrong).

The reason that I liked this book so much was that he DID provide these sources. I mean really, where have you ever heard of evidence AGAINST global warming except for in Chrichton's book. I think that it's great that he brought some opposing viewpoints into the public eye. Honestly, have you ever heard the general media mention something that is opposed to the general opinion that 'global warming' is actually happening. I would call that 'one sided.'

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:34 pm

so i just saw Eragon...quite the disappointment. from now on i don't think i will ever go see the movie adaptation of book i enjoy.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:06 pm

skeetsh00ter wrote:so i just saw Eragon...quite the disappointment. from now on i don't think i will ever go see the movie adaptation of book i enjoy.

That's why I want to see the movie before reading the book. I figure I will like the movie (even if just for the special effects) and then enjoy the book. The other way around rarely works.

B.

skeetsh00ter · Post by **skeetsh00ter** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:22 pm

[quote="BAS"]That's why I want to see the movie before reading the book. I figure I will like the movie (even if just for the special effects) and then enjoy the book. The other way around rarely works.[/quote]

i dont know about that, even if i hadn't read the book i still dont think i would have enjoyed the movie, but let me know how it goes for you.

and will someone please tell me why i'm not able to ever quote people!

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:49 pm

BB code maybe?
See bug reports.

I highly recommend Shock Value by John Waters
and Meetings With Remarkable Men by Gurdjieff.

harymitch · Post by **harymitch** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 10:51 am

theres always Stephen King....

Rusted Iron · Post by **Rusted Iron** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 6:42 pm

The Terror, by Dan Simmons.

It's horror, like some of his previous books, but the only monsters are the weather, the bears, and the explorers looking for the North West Passage. The title comes from the name of one of the ships.

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 7:20 pm

I'm reading...

This damn board. Hard to believe I was gone for a month an change. AYIIIII...

bb

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 8:31 pm

A re-read of the Werewolf:the Apocalypse gamebook APOCALYPSE. Lots of jolly, bloody good roleplaying gamer-geek fun there. They really sent the Garou out with a bang.

K-mom · Post by **K-mom** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 9:59 pm

I just finished reading Arturo Perez-Reverte's 'El Club Dumas', a really awesome story about a book expert wandering around Europe trying to authenticate an original chapter of The Three Musketeers - he winds up involved in a weird sub-plot involving an ancient occult text supposed to summon Lucifer. A movie was made with Johnny Depp but they cut out all the Dumas stuff and focused on the occult sub-plot.

And this morning I started reading Alex Garland's second novel 'The Tesseract' which is about street crime in Manila. Too early to offer an opinion on that.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 12:53 am

Kinda in between stuff at the moment. I've been writing in an on again, off again fashion. (Basically writing stuff as it comes to me, to be linked up later.)

Ugh. Its three in the morning!

I need to take some anti-acids and get to bed.

B.