Books!

[Kiraly]

Lately I've been reading the Leviathan trilogy, by Scott Westerfeld. It's also filled with some pretty awesome illustrations by Keith Thompson. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but it's basically a steampunk-ified alternate history of WWI, and starts off following the story of an Austrian prince named Aleksander. I'm on the second book now, Behemoth, and I just started reading it yesterday and am past halfway already...

I love those books! It's been a while since I read them, but I really enjoyed them. (And the illustrations are awesome, I wish more books had drawings like that!)

Very fun, but a bit biased in favor of the Darwinists, IMHO. He only applies physics to the mech guys haha

Haha, true...but it would be hard to find a way to make actual physics apply to a flying whale, so a fair amount of science fantasy was bound to happen anyway.


My current read is A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab. It's the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic, which I highly recommend for anyone who likes their fantasy/alternate world novels on the dark-and-gritty side. I'm enjoying the second book so far, but I sort of wish I'd re-read the first one because I don't quite remember how it ended.

[Athena]

Very fun, but a bit biased in favor of the Darwinists, IMHO. He only applies physics to the mech guys haha

Yeah, the Leviathan itself was a bit unrealistic, along with a few other creatures. I think trying to bind together DNA structures like that the creature would expel the other DNA and end up destroying itself. The Clanker machines are so cool seriously why don't we have walkers irl!

[SectoBoss]

I bounced pretty hard off the books.  I very quickly said the Eight Deadly Words.  I've never seen the show.

The Eight Deadly Words are "I don't care what happens to these people."

I'm in the exact same boat with Game of Thrones. I tried reading the first book, quickly forgot who everyone was, and even when I managed to remember I simply couldn't bring myself to give a stuff. It doesn't help that the author, in my opinion, cannot write novels very well - instead, his works read like extended screenplays, which might be one reason they've been translated so successfully to the screen.

Lately I've been reading the Leviathan trilogy, by Scott Westerfeld. It's also filled with some pretty awesome illustrations by Keith Thompson. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but it's basically a steampunk-ified alternate history of WWI, and starts off following the story of an Austrian prince named Aleksander. I'm on the second book now, Behemoth, and I just started reading it yesterday and am past halfway already...

I have fond memories of these books - half the delight was always seeing what diesel-powered or biological marvel he'd come up with next! If you like that, might I recommend the Mortal Engines Quartet by Philip Reeve? Another set of young adult books I have fond memories of, set millennia after an apocalyptic war. Mobile cities roam the earth and eat each other, with the Tibetian Plateau being the last bastion of stationary civilization. The action initially follows an apprentice historian from London but heads to all four conrners of the globe by the end - well worth a read!

I love those books! It's been a while since I read them, but I really enjoyed them. (And the illustrations are awesome, I wish more books had drawings like that!)

Haha, true...but it would be hard to find a way to make actual physics apply to a flying whale, so a fair amount of science fantasy was bound to happen anyway.


My current read is A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab. It's the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic, which I highly recommend for anyone who likes their fantasy/alternate world novels on the dark-and-gritty side. I'm enjoying the second book so far, but I sort of wish I'd re-read the first one because I don't quite remember how it ended.

The artist has a site well worth checking out!
And I've heard good things about A Darker Shade of Magic. Hopefully I'll be able to borrow it from a friend soon...

[Ragnarok]

The Clanker machines are so cool seriously why don't we have walkers irl!

From what I know, it's a combination of engineering and economics. The former due to the difficulty of building a  working
bipedal system, the latter due more to feasibility. We CAN build walkers, it's just in terms of firepower, armor, and speed they'd be inferior to while be more expensive than a tank. Eh this is books thread, not future thread, whatevs.

[IKEA]

On the subject of steampunky/futuristic works, Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter collaborated on The Long Earth. It takes place in a series of parallel universes that can be navigated between using a device made out of a potato. Huge numbers of colonists set out to explore these parallel Earths. Well worth checking out even for non-Pratchett fans.

[urbicande]

On the subject of steampunky/futuristic works, Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter collaborated on The Long Earth. It takes place in a series of parallel universes that can be navigated between using a device made out of a potato. Huge numbers of colonists set out to explore these parallel Earths. Well worth checking out even for non-Pratchett fans.

Th...there are NON-Pratchett fans?  *faints*

[IKEA]

Th...there are NON-Pratchett fans?  *faints*

I've heard rumors... never seen one in the wild though.

[Hrollo]

I've never read Pratchett and have no intention to do so in the foreseeable future.

[Róisín]

Anything by Mary Gentle is also worth a read. Her 'Rats and Gargoyles' is good.

[Purple Wyrm]

I've never read Pratchett and have no intention to do so in the foreseeable future.

Shun the non-believer! Shuuuuunnn!!! 

I just finished S.M.Stirling's Nantucket Trilogy. I've been meaning to tackle it for years and now wish I'd done it sooner.

I'm also halfway through My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. It's the first book since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that has had me snorting, cackling and giggling in public places.

[Róisín]

Durrell is fun!

[cati]

Durrell is fun!

Seconded to infinity! And MFaOA is an excellent one to start - the first of his books that my mum read, and then first I read.

[Purple Wyrm]

Durrell is fun!

Seconded to infinity! And MFaOA is an excellent one to start - the first of his books that my mum read, and then first I read.

Larry's criticism of the Dandie Dinmont almost made me break into hysterics. Which given that I was on a bus at the time would have been interesting

[Antillanka]

*didn't read the entire thread back*
Any Patrick Rothfuss fan around? Somebody? Still waiting for TKKC to finally turn a trilogy *sighs* someday... no, The Slow Regard of Silent Things doesn't count. Yes, I enjoyed it, and yes, I would understand anybody absolutely hating it because it's such a strange tale XD

[Ragnarok]

Larry's criticism of the Dandie Dinmont almost made me break into hysterics. Which given that I was on a bus at the time would have been interesting

Love Durrel!