CyborgDreamSt8
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Posts posted by CyborgDreamSt8
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Thanks. Texas? Cool! Do you read Westerns by any chance? I love 'em.
That would be a huge negative. I had a steady stream of Western movies and such shoved down my throat as a child and I just can't stand them anymore. Same with Country and Western music. I am much more into Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror.
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Sending you a warm welcome from Texas. I am new to the forum as well, Clive. It's a great group and they are quite welcoming and fun to talk to. Hope you enjoy your time here as much as I have so far.
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I like that idea quite well, if you don't start it I just might have to. For now, I just got home from a twelve hour shift, so starting a thread probably isn't in the works for me, but I do like the idea.
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I decided to move Chasm City right to the top of my TBR pile. Started it earlier on, only 80 pages in so far but really enjoying it already
Yay! I am so glad to find another Reynolds fan, he is probably my favorite author if I had to sit down and think about it. His stories just got me so engaged.
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Thanks, LittleW, and that's exactly my experience with Moby Dick. I am reading it on Kindle, been at it for nearly a month and still only at 37%. To be honest I just don't think I'm going to make it.
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Thanks, I will look into it asap.
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Ah, well I highly recommend the Night's Dawn books then, starting with The Reality Dysfunction:
"In AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature’s boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems. And throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace. A true golden age is within our grasp.
But now something has gone catastrophically wrong. On a primitive colony planet a renegade criminal’s chance encounter with an utterly alien entity unleashes the most primal of all our fears. An extinct race which inhabited the galaxy aeons ago called it “The Reality Dysfunction”. It is the nightmare which has prowled beside us since the beginning of history."
I suspect I'd enjoy Revelation Space more if I read it again now. I'll definitely be giving Chasm City a go soon, as it's nearing the top of by TBR pile
That sounds like an amazing book, I am going to have to read it. It's called The Reality Dysfunction?
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It scared the bejesus out of me when my dad took me to see it when I was 9 years old - I didn't sleep for about a year afterwards
I don't know why but I just never found that movie to be particularly scary.
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So, what do you have? Depends on my mood but my favorite thing to have is oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins.
Why? It's quite filling and gives you plenty of energy for the day.
Would you have something different if you could? If I am in the mood I sometimes have eggs instead, or even cold cereal.
Does time restrict what you have? Quite often actually. Having to be at work at 0650 or 1850 and not getting off till 1900 or 0700, depending on my shift, can really put a damper on eating habits.
Tell us about your favourite breakfast EVER! My favorite breakfast ever was actually at Ihop. I don't even like Ihop all that well, but it was the first breakfast I ever had with the man I now call my fiancé so it has a very special meaning to me.
What do you do at the breakfast table? Read? Watch TV? Chat? I generally have the horrid habit of watching television when I eat, though I am moving away from television completely now.
Do you have a beverage? Generally just water unless I have made coffee, but that is quite rare really.
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I read Revelation Space years ago. Now that's hard sf, quite heavy going, I seem to remember, but I did enjoy it. I've got Chasm City on the shelf, must get around to it soon.
I'm quite disappointed at the moment, as I was a BIG fan of Peter F Hamilton's early Greg Mandel books, and his Night's Dawn trilogy, but his Commonwealth Saga had me losing the will to live, and I've got the Void trilogy sitting on the shelf, unread
It is hard SF, but he seems to have a knack for making it enjoyable and the characters, at least in my opinion, were very easy to get to know and like/dislike as the situation demanded. I think you will like Chasm City, it was almost as good as RS but then again the sequels rarely live up to the original.
I have never heard of Peter F. Hamilton, might have to look into the books you mentioned, skipping Commonwealth obviously, I work in a jail I need all the will to live I can get.
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Hey there and welcome to BCF, Carl!! Glad to have you
Do you have a fave King book?
It's a toss up between Salem's Lot and Needful Things, and possibly Tommyknockers. I couldn't put any of them down, they were just that good. However, if I could choose only one it would have to be Needful Things.
Thanks for the welcomes guys, to the two who welcomed me under this question.
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I have seen so many of those Che Guevara t-shirts around. I guess he's so popular because he was a revolutionary, but I doubt most of the Che Guevara worshippers know much more about him than I do.
I find those t-shirts so offensive just for the very reason you just stated. Those who wear them know very little about the man they are showing such hero worship for. They think he was just some revolutionary hero, but they forget to look into the actions and the motives.
I had completely forgotten about Motorcycle Diaries, I will have to look into that as well.
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Well in that case I won't expect much traffic to those thread. I am thinking of buying the rather large tome that is his biography and seeing if I can at least get a more well rounded view on the man. What I know of him so far though, from that book and stories from family members alluded to earlier, I am not inclined to like him.
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Hi Carl. Welcome to the forum.
Two questions: you like scifi have you ever read any Jack Vance? He is my favourite author.
Also have you ever shot anybody in the course of your job?
Thanks for the welcome, vodkafan. To answer question number one, no, I have heard of Jack Vance but I haven't ever read anything written by him. Since you speak so highly I might look into him though. To answer question number two, no, I am in corrections so I am not required, nor even allowed at this point, to carry a weapon. I have not been certified and it is optional. I thought about it, but the cost of buying a weapon is quite high, especially for the kind I wish to have. It is a decision I have been mulling over for some time and might eventually make the leap to do. I don't take the idea of using a weapon on a fellow human being lightly, especially since I deal with non-convicted inmates. Why do you ask?
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I've never read Moby Dick though I've had that feeling of something being a slog rather than a joy. I really hate to give up on books but shamefully I have a few times. Some things just aren't going to be for you (or thats how I look at it) and it's totally outweighed by the times you think you're going to hate something and end up loving it. That's happened to me a few times and its the best!
As for making it easier, I find a little break helps as long as its not to long. Or just filling time if you have half an hour with it rather than spending a hours with the book. I can only do that if I can't put it down! But then I've always been like that.
You have just given me a wonderful idea, I have Moby Dick on my Kindle, which means that I can read it on my Android phone. I will simply read it when I am on break at work. I plan to get the combined Jurassic Park/Lost World book from Barnes and Noble in about a week and a half and I won't be done with MD in anything close to that time frame. I can read one at home and one at work.
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I wasn't unhappy because I didn't think it was a particularly good book (nor do I think much of the movie), but I don't like the fact that it's a purely emotional, psychological book with no actual confirmed possession, reduced to nothing but cheap scares in movie form, so I'm with you on that. I'm not sure if they MISSED the point, or just chose to take it in a different direction, but they are utterly different beasts.
You are quite right, they are utterly different. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the book. I guess we all have different tastes in things of that nature.
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Thanks you guys. I can't wait to get some recommendations. Have you read Moby Dick baby.giraffe? Any suggestions for making it easier to read?
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I had no idea this was even a book, I accidentally watched the movie version of it a few years ago. I am quite the opposite of a Christian and was disappointed at what I thought would be a great movie from the sound of it. As far as it being made into a book I can't understand how it could be good, it was just a terrible movie even without taking into account that it was religious.
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By the way I don't want to appear conservative or in any way affiliated with the right wing nut jobs. I just found the book interesting from the point of view of someone who has heard first hand accounts of the revolution in Cuba and how horrible some of Che's actions were. I haven't read anything else by or about him so I have a very limited POV on this. Any input would be appreciated and that is actually why I posted this topic. Just realized how bad of an impression it could give you of me without a caveat.
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Has anyone else read the book Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him by Humberto Fontova. As an American with Cuban roots it was something I was quite interested in when I saw it. After reading it and discussing some of the things in it with some of my family members I was disgusted at the thought of so many people idolizing that man. Anyone got any thoughts, or opinions on the book?
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Unfortunately my only experience of his writing has been his Frankenstein novels, and they were terrifically poor - so poor I didn't bother buying the latest installment. It's put me off reading anything else by him - despite the fact that my husband has read quite a few of his earlier novels and rates him quite highly. It all depends where you start!
It also depends on the novel, seriously, some of his novels may be wonderful but a large part of his novels can be quite predictable and he had a propensity for doing the government conspiracy thing with his novels.
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Oh, and I never read Jaws, but I LOVE the film (one of my faves). Has anyone read it and if so was it better than the film?
Yes, it was very good and I felt it was much better than the movie.
As to which movie I would vote as worst ever from a book, I must disagree with a previous poster and say that Dune is by far the worst adaptation I have ever seen in my life. I read the book and then watched the movie within a few days of each other, I was so disappointed that if I hadn't been watching it with another person at the time I would have just turned it off.
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I read 1984 when I was probably in Junior High and I liked it, then I read it again as an adult and also liked it, though at that point it pretty much scared the hell out of me as I live in post 9/11 America where it almost became a reality after the attacks. This book is absolutely amazing to me, and I agree with every single person who has said this book is relevant today.
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I prefer Sci-Fi, especially hard core space opera from the likes of authors like Alastair Reynolds who is a very big favorite of mine. If you want some fun sci-fi pick up Revelation Space.
I just have to add something to the discuss about WoT series. I have read about ten of the books if I am not mistaken. I must say that I only ever finished the first two or three all at once. For the rest of them I have had to take breaks, read something else in the meantime, and then go back and finish the book, sometimes doing this several times per book. I give one very big warning though, as the series goes on it gets quite complex with plots, as well as characters growing nearly out of control. If you can't read them all one right after the other you will find it hard to keep it all straight, which is why I finally gave up and haven't finished reading anything else in the series. Don't get me wrong, they are wonderful books, but it gets way too complicated to keep up with if you don't stick to the reading and try to get through it.
The Persian Boy
in Historical Fiction
Posted · Edited by CyborgDreamSt8
Has anyone else here ever read The Persian Boy by Mary Renault? It is a book that tells you the story of Bagoas, the son of a nobleman who through many tragic circumstances becomes a eunuch and a slave, and then is saved by fate when he falls into the hands of Alexander the Great and becomes one of his most loved servants and lovers. I read it many years ago, mostly because as a gay man it appealed to me as a look at one of the most famous homosexuals in history, but also because it just seemed like such an amazing and sweet story. I was great impressed with the story and fell in love with the characters early on. I felt it was well written and gave you a great fictional look into the world of one of my heroes and one of the many people who benefited from his love and care.