100th Idiot

Just read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion while I was on holiday. Truly epic in scope and imagination.

Been away again. I finished "My Friend the Mercenary" by James Brabazon. A very interesting read providing insight into the murky world of African conflict, mercenaries, arms deals, governments and all that entails. A few bits not for the squeamish. Now started "The Last Book of Salem".

Just back from holiday so a bit of a catch up. Read: The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran - Hooman Majd Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds Hyperion - Dan Simmons The Fall of Hyperion - Dan Simmons Currently half way through: My Friend the Mercenary - James Brabazon. This is the story of the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea the Mark Thatcher was alleged to be involved with althoguh the first half is about his reporting of an unreported war in Liberia. Very gripping so far.

I have a theory that paper books will go the way of vinyl records. It is kind of inevitable. As the cost of eReaders drops to the £20 to £50 range most books will be distributed electronically. Especially as fuel costs continue to rise increasing the costs of physical distribution. So physical books will decline in popularity but like vinyl they will come back as collectors items for aficionados. It is therefore time to start building up your collection of quality hard back books before the prices start to increase further. Time to hit those second hand shops and get singed copies.

If you read a lot then I would not think the iPad is the right device for you. The screen technology is the same as a PC - backlit LCD. It is quite tiring on the eyes after a while. Dedicated eReaders (Sony, Kindle etc.) use a different display that physically moves coloured particles (think electronic Etch-a-Sketch) {not quite the same but a close enough analogy). The page is lit with natural light reflecting off the surface just like a paper book and is much better for long hours of reading. The iPad is a multimedia consumption device of which eBooks are one form.

Thanks for the tip on WHSmith. Just about to load up with holiday reading.

Not really today but two days ago I finished Pandemonium by Christopher Brookmyre. It was OK. Not one of his best. The first half of the booked worked well with the character build up. Have to decide what to read next. I have Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds ready to go but I'm being tempted by Faust (the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe version). Decision decisions.

Just started reading Pandemonium by Christopher Brookmyre. I had some mixed reviews but I have read everything else he has published so it seemed rude not to add this. I am also compiling a holiday reading collection. So far I have: The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran by Hooman Majd The Hyperion Omnibus: Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion (Gollancz S.F.) by Dan Simmons Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride The Lost Book of Salem by Katherine Howe Still looking to add a couple more to the list.

I have been using a Sony eReader for over 18 months now and love it. I travel a lot so having a small slim device with my books on it works very well for me and it saves a lot of bookshelf space. I buy the eBooks from Waterstones. Kindle's proprietary format really puts me off. Once you have started investing in these books you will always have to buy Kindle hardware. I do not want to be locked into that. At least if I need a new reader and don't like the current Sony range there is plenty of choice that will read the ePub format. Sony pocket reader is now £99. Probably less on eBay.

I found "Invitation to a Beheading" quite strange.

Pixie and Vladd get the bonus points. Iain Banks is one of my favourite authors for both his novels and scifi. Other favourites are John Irving, Vladimir Nabokov, Christopher Brookmyre and Milan Kundera.

Afraid the 100th bit is a critical part of the reference. Not Dostoyevsky. Nothing quite so deep.

Quick hello now that I have joined BCF. Spend quite a bit of time reading and have a reasonably mixed taste from classics through modern novels to techno thrillers and scifi. Maybe a bit of history thrown in. I'll list some favourite authors later but for now there are bonus points for anyone that can get the literary reference from my forum name.