Karsa Orlong Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 I happened to see a few minutes of Sharknado 3 last night, and was fortunate enough to see George RR Martin get what's been coming to him for a while now https://twitter.com/SharknadoSyfy/status/624038134116974593 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 I happened to see a few minutes of Sharknado 3 last night, and was fortunate enough to see George RR Martin get what's been coming to him for a while now https://twitter.com/SharknadoSyfy/status/624038134116974593 This is amazing! I recorded it but have yet to watch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I have some of the Drizzt books too, I'm glad it was allright for you . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 Well this is annoying http://thewertzone.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/scott-bakkers-unholy-consult-delayed.html I've been waiting for the last book to be published before starting the second trilogy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Well this is annoying http://thewertzone.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/scott-bakkers-unholy-consult-delayed.html I've been waiting for the last book to be published before starting the second trilogy Awww, that is very annoying!! Stupid publishers . I'm sorry for you . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Awww, that is very annoying!! Stupid publishers . I'm sorry for you . Booo ! And grrr. I`m reading a couple of series where a different publisher has picked it up midway - it`s the not-knowing which is so irritating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 (edited) poutine.jpg Chips in gravy with cheese curd on top. Should be against the law. But how bad can anything with chips be ?? One of my neighbours comes from the Isle of Man, and they do a version of it there. Edited July 27, 2015 by Little Pixie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 But how bad can anything with chips be ?? Soggy, gravy-soaked chips are wrong on every level as far as I'm concerned. Eww. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Cheesy gravy chips are pretty common here up North. I think they're rank, but then I don't like chips. How annoying about the Bakker book. Would you recommend the first trilogy? I have The Darkness that Comes Before on my TBR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 The chips don't look appealing at all to be honest.. I've never seen chips in gravy in the Netherlands, so I have no idea if it's be good or not. But that photo doesn't make it look appealing! Here's a nice fact by the way, 'chips' in Dutch we call 'friet' (or 'patat' if you live in certain regions, but I'm going with 'friet'), but 'crisps' in English are 'chips' in Dutch (pronounced slightly different from the English pronounciation of it). Sometimes it confuses me . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 How annoying about the Bakker book. Would you recommend the first trilogy? I have The Darkness that Comes Before on my TBR. Oh hell, yes! It's a fantastic trilogy, and the only one I've read that's come close to SE in terms of style and content. The first book is great, the second book is one of the best fantasy novels I've read to date, and the third . . . Well the third fell victim to my usual 'bit of a let-down after the brilliance of the middle novel' syndrome, but I suspect that was more down to me trying to rush through it and getting a bit of author 'burn-out' than a problem with the book itself. I should've left a bit more time between reading each one, but I was enjoying it so much . . . I reviewed them a couple of years ago: The Darkness that Comes Before The Warrior Prophet The Thousandfold thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 The chips don't look appealing at all to be honest.. I've never seen chips in gravy in the Netherlands, so I have no idea if it's be good or not. But that photo doesn't make it look appealing! Here's a nice fact by the way, 'chips' in Dutch we call 'friet' (or 'patat' if you live in certain regions, but I'm going with 'friet'), but 'crisps' in English are 'chips' in Dutch (pronounced slightly different from the English pronounciation of it). Sometimes it confuses me . Fries and chips - that`s the same as in the US, isn`t it ? I wonder if that`s `cos of New York originally being New Amsterdam and some of the Dutch language stuck around. Fascinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Oh hell, yes! It's a fantastic trilogy, and the only one I've read that's come close to SE in terms of style and content. The first book is great, the second book is one of the best fantasy novels I've read to date, and the third . . . Well the third fell victim to my usual 'bit of a let-down after the brilliance of the middle novel' syndrome, but I suspect that was more down to me trying to rush through it and getting a bit of author 'burn-out' than a problem with the book itself. I should've left a bit more time between reading each one, but I was enjoying it so much . . . I reviewed them a couple of years ago: The Darkness that Comes Before The Warrior Prophet The Thousandfold thought Awesome, thanks! I think the only reason I originally bought it was because it had a recommendation by SE on the front. Can't wait to read it. Fries and chips - that`s the same as in the US, isn`t it ? I wonder if that`s `cos of New York originally being New Amsterdam and some of the Dutch language stuck around. Fascinating. Very interesting! I remember going to America a few years ago and asking for chips with my meal. They gave me a plate of crisps, and I was like, wha?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Awesome, thanks! I think the only reason I originally bought it was because it had a recommendation by SE on the front. Canadian solidarity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean 1955 - HarperCollins ebook - 485 pages The novel that launched the astonishing career of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers of action and suspense – an acclaimed classic of heroism and the sea in World War II. The story of men who rose to heroism, and then to something greater,HMS Ulysses takes its place alongside The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea as one of the classic novels of the navy at war. It is the compelling story of Convoy FR77 to Murmansk – a voyage that pushes men to the limits of human endurance, crippled by enemy attack and the bitter cold of the Arctic. Waaay back in the early 80s I read a handful of Alistair MacLean's novels (I remember really loving When Eight Bells Toll and The Satan Bug at the time) but this is the first one I've read since then. I picked it up for 99p in a Kindle deal whilst on my quest to find a real edge-of-seat thriller. What I didn't realise at the time was that this was MacLean's debut novel. And it's really good. It's the story of a convoy from Scapa Flow to Murmansk during WWII. HMS Ulysses is one of the fastest and best-equipped ships in the world. At the start of the story its captain, Richard Vallery, is being grilled by his superiors. His crew have been pushed to the limits of their endurance by endless missions in freezing Arctic conditions and, led by a violent ex-con by the name of Riley, have teetered on the edge of outright mutiny. Their punishment? To be once again sent into the Arctic Circle as the leader of an escort for a convoy of thirty two cargo vessels carrying vital fuel and war machines. The writing's very good - a little too verbose in places, and a little rough around the edges, understandably. Patrick O'Brian this ain't. But the characterisation is quite subtle, in that the various members of the crew on which he chose to focus became fully rounded through little quirks of expression or dialogue without me really noticing it. I absolutely loved the relationship between Admiral Tyndall and Carpenter, aka the Kapok Kid, the ship's navigator. It was full of humour, something which was much needed, and that's because, as well as moving along at a relentless pace from start to finish, HMS Ulysses is also relentlessly grim. I can't remember a book where so many characters die. The conditions in which they have to work are horrific, and I think MacLean's biggest success in this book is in creating this all-encompassing atmosphere of the freezing weather. It made me feel cold just reading it. I was going to say that it's a tale of triumph over adversity but - if it can be called a triumph - the price is too high. It's a really good read, and I will definitely read/re-read more of his books. As a slight aside, I have picked up a couple of the books that were recommended in the thread I started asking for thriller recommendations: Running Blind by Desmond Bagley and A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay, so thanks to Sarah and Sari for the recs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Very interesting! I remember going to America a few years ago and asking for chips with my meal. They gave me a plate of crisps, and I was like, wha?? Wot, no new chip comments today ? Bah. I hope you enjoy Running Blind. The TV series of the book made me want to visit Iceland ( which I did, 20 years later ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I added HMS Ulysses to my wishlist I'm pretty sure I read The Dark Crusader about 8 or 9 years ago, don't remember much about it about from something to do with a rocket... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 2, 2015 Author Share Posted August 2, 2015 Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge 2006 - Tor paperback - 381 pages Robert Gu is a world-renowned poet and recovering Alzheimer's patient. The world that he remembers was much as we know it today. Now, as he regains his faculties through a new cure, he discovers that the world has changed. He is seventy-five years old, though by a medical miracle he looks much younger, and he's starting over, for the first time unsure of his poetic gifts. Living with his son's family, he has no choice but to learn how to cope with a new information age in which the virtual and the real are a seamless continuum. But the consensus reality of the digital world is available only if, like his thirteen-year-old granddaughter Miri, you know how to wear your wireless access and to see the digital context--through smart contact lenses.With knowledge comes risk. When Robert begins to re-train at Fairmont High he unwittingly becomes part of a wide-ranging conspiracy to use technology as a tool for world domination. This conspiracy is something that baffles even the most sophisticated security analysts, including Robert's son and daughter-in law, two top people in the U.S. military. And even Miri, in her attempts to protect her grandfather, may be entangled in the plot . . . This is the last of Vernor Vinge's novels that I had to read, so when I saw it in Indigo in Calgary it was instantly a 'must-buy'. Vinge doesn't write many novels so, for me, the ones that exist are something of an 'event'. A Fire Upon the Deep and its prequel-of-sorts, A Deepness in the Sky, aren't just two of my favourite science fiction novels, but two of my favourite novels full-stop. The belated sequel, The Children of the Sky, wasn't quite on the same level, and his earlier, shorter works didn't have the same epic sweep, but they were all still hugely entertaining. I'd put off reading Rainbows End purely because the reviews I'd read had been so mixed, and I wasn't quite sure where a next-gen, high-tech thriller fitted in with his other work. I shouldn't have worried, really. Vinge is well-known for his envisioning of the 'technological singularity', wherein he posits that the creation of a true artificial intelligence will see the end of the human era. Rainbows End, in its own way, is kind of a poke in the eye for people who have taken his ideas to extremes. In this story, set in 2025, it's the internet and the way it brings us together from all over the world that is the issue. People 'wear'. They use contact lenses with direct access to the internet, controlled by gestures or virtual keyboards. Their clothes are also tuned into this, and they overlay the real world with skins like we change the desktop on our computers. Into this new world emerges Robert Gu. For the past twenty years he has been suffering from Alzheimer's, and for the past four years he has been near death, until a miracle cure came along and saved him, rejuvenated him, and gave him back to his family a changed man. He was, before, a famous poet, whose artistic energies had caused him to abuse and alienate practically all of his friends and family. There are still aspects of this about him and, when he finds that the treatment has deprived him of his creativity, he is drawn to a mysterious stranger, who appears as a virtual presence, and offers him a cure to get his poetic powers back - if he'll help infiltrate the laboratories at the university in San Diego. What's going on at the heart of those laboratories is the kicking-off point for the story (in essence - and this is revealed in the very first chapter, so it's not a spoiler - it's a kind of terrorism using subliminal advertising and mind control) but really, at its heart, the story is about being happy with who we are and what we have. Robert's quest to retrieve his old genius leads him into dark, unpleasant corners where his past lurks and his future crumbles. But, although it sounds like heavy stuff, Vinge's usual brilliance is in never losing sight of the fact that we read to be entertained. Unlike so many science fiction authors, he has the big ideas, and they're there on the page, but there is always a human dilemma at its centre, and the warmth of the characters always shines through. The first two third of this novel are a joy, told with his usual eye for humour whilst conveying his ideas by showing rather than telling. It's kind of a drip-feed of ideas that gradually come together in your mind. On this occasion, though, he doesn't quite see it through to the end, and the final third stumbles across the finishing line. The main plot threads are dealt with in satisfying fashion but he makes one misstep. There is a riot that is instigated for various spoilery reasons and, rather than leave it in the background, he chose to bring it front and centre and spend long-ish chapters focusing on that rather than on the central characters. It's a decision which, I suspect, was largely borne out of a desire to explore what lengths the various skins and the group mentality of the internet could be taken to. On the face of it it might seem like a good idea, but in practice I found it largely an irritation, detracting from the main plot and devolving into what I suspect he thought would be funny - large opposing groups and virtual presences skinned as fluffy animals and monsters - but ends up being a very silly and something of a momentum-killer. Overall, I'd place this as his fourth best novel, behind A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky (obviously!) and Marooned in Realtime. Not the best place to start with his work, but still better than most of the competition. And no, there's no apostrophe. There's a reason for it, and even a chapter called 'The Missing Apostrophe', because - after all, even rainbows come to an end. Plus I've got through all this review and not mentioned Mr Rabbit. Silly me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 I didn't even notice the apostrophe thing until you mentioned it . . . although now that you have, it makes the title seem quite sad. Great review. I really will get around to AFUtD . . . one day . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 2, 2015 Author Share Posted August 2, 2015 I can guarantee you won't have read anything quite like it before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Oh crap. I sort of like the sound of this, and I'm scared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) The R40 tour finished in LA on Saturday night. I have never seen them take a bow like this at the end of a show before, let alone have Neil come to the front of the stage: I bought my first Rush album when I was 14 years old, and their music has been part of my life ever since. I think it will always be so but, as far as seeing them live goes, this looks like it really is The End ETA: https://youtu.be/KOWBLOuLIDU?t=343 Edited August 3, 2015 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Great review ! It sounds like a good book. I shall get around to reading my blue omnibus some time (which contains two of the author's novels).. . I'm sorry about Rush stopping . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Awww You've had some amazing times with the dudes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Oh yes, very true. I thought I'd seen them for the last time in the mid-90s, when Neil was struck with so much tragedy, so to have had the chance to see them on five more tours since then has been a real bonus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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