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I looked at Sol's post in Gen Sci-Fi, and figured I'd put up a non science fiction thread. So what are you reading? And, if you say "the bible", I'll make goat babies eat your family.
I've just started 'Goldfinger' by Ian Fleming. Not too bad.
I also picked up 'Rogue Warrior - Echo Platoon' by Richard Marcinko & John Weisman, and 'Eaters of the dead' by Michael Crichton. Bargain books rule.
------------------ "...you know, Omega, there's a phrase you might want to look up. It goes something like "paranoid arrogant fuckwit who has more chance of ejaculating to the moon than he has of ever convincing a girl that he's a viable prospect for marriage." -PsyLiam, September 16, 2000 10:23 PM.
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
UM, I recommend reading the Bond books in order. Start with "Casino Royale." Wish Cubby Broccoli had made that as a film before "Dr. No"...it'd've cleared u a lot of things.
Still on the waiting list for Clive Cussler's newest, "Blue Gold" & still trudging through "Sovereignity And Security In The Arctic"...finished the chapter on "sovereignity issues in the Arctic region," though.
I don't do as many books as I should...there's simply not enough time for me to read them all. I really need a 78-hour day. Music is my primary passion; too bad I can't play any instrument.
------------------ "Two parts slush...one part solid ice...one part hard-packed snow...a dash of assorted debris...sculpt into sphere, and serve at high velocity without warning." --Calvin
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I'm reading 2010: Odyssey 2 right now, just after finishing up 2001: A Space Odyssey.
------------------ Me: "Why don't you live in Hong Kong?" Rachel Roberts: "Hong Kong? Nah. Oh, but we can live in China! Yeah, China has great Chinese food!"
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After finishing up Isaac Asimov's Robot and Foundations serieses, I am moving on to his Gold collection, then his Magic collection, and finishing it off with Nightfall. And I'm always on the look out for good not-to-distant future, post armageddon, or space book.
------------------ It doesn't matter if you don't know what you're doing as long as you look good doing it.
posted
Well, at this time, I happen to be in the middle of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. So far, it's anot all that great, compared to his Hitchhiker's Guide works. It also comes across sounding like he had just bought a computer, was obsessed w/ it, and decided to make every single computer reference he could possibly think of into the book.
I've also been reading (don't hurt me...) the Harry Potter books. As it turns out, they really aren't that bad, if you aren't bothered by the fact that they were written for a younger target audience. If nothing else, read them for the sole purpose of pissing off your local right-wing Christian fundamentalists. :-)
------------------ "Count the arms, the legs, and heads, and then divide by five." -They Might Be Giants, "Certain People I Could Name"
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
Erick: said before & I'll say it again--if you can find it, pick up "Warday," by Whitley Streiber & James Kunetka. Written in 1984, it postulates a limited 30-minute Soviet/American nuclear exchange on 27 October 1988. The book takes place 5 years later as the authors travel the nation to examine the post-Warday America. It's a truly moving work that accurately depicts the horrors of nuclear war (fuck "The Day After;" here cities are vaporized) & whenever I put it down, I have to visually remind myself that things like phones, TVs, & radios are still around.
------------------ "Two parts slush...one part solid ice...one part hard-packed snow...a dash of assorted debris...sculpt into sphere, and serve at high velocity without warning." --Calvin
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Tom Clancy's "Debt of Honor". I've got five others of books in my queue, too. Six, if you could "The Bear and the Dragon", which hasn't arrived yet at the library...
359:
2001 and 2010 are GREAT books. Just don't even TOUCH 2061 or 3001. Utter crap, like most of Clarke's later work. Although "The Light of Other Days" was decent...
Fructose:
Good choices. "Nightfall" was a really good book, as were the Foundation books (well, except "Foundation and Earth"). Did you read all seven Asimov "Foundation" books? If you did, I highly recomend the Second Foundation Trilogy (where the word "second" modifies "trilogy", not "foundation"; so it's the second trilogy about the Foundation, not a trilogy about the Second Foundation), written by Benford, Bear, and Brin. "Foundation's Fear", "Foundation and Chaos", and "Foundation's Triumph". I'm just waiting for one of the authors to pick up after Foundation and Earth...
------------------ "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
I enjoyed "2061" immensely, esepcially for the Floydian aspects & Mount Zeus. Plus you need to read all 4 to get the full perspective.
Don't listen to Omega...he still reads latter-day Tom Clancy--which isn't even written by Tom Clancy anymore.
------------------ "Two parts slush...one part solid ice...one part hard-packed snow...a dash of assorted debris...sculpt into sphere, and serve at high velocity without warning." --Calvin
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Well, considering the book I'm reading was written in '94...
Hardly latter-day.
And all the Ryanverse books were written by Clancy. Netforce and Ops-Center, or whatever they're called, weren't. They were just partially his idea.
And just what do you mean, "to get the full perspective"? 3001 flatly contradicts nearly everything we know about the monoliths and the Firstborn, as he's now taken to calling them! There's no plot. There's no mystery behind the monolith's purpose(s). It's just a story that happens to involve some of the same characters.
------------------ "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
The university I go to were giving away some free novels, so I picked one. It was entitled "Seconds to Disaster" where some maniac has wired a bomb to the nosewheel of an airplane, along with an odometer, set to go off if the nosewheel has used up 10000 feet. That same airplane has already used 8000 feet on takeoff.
Speed in reverse if you ask me.
------------------ "My Name is Elmer Fudd, Millionaire. I own a Mansion and a Yacht." Psychiatrist: "Again."
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Thanks Shik, I'll look for that. And Omega, I've just read Asimov's books. I haven't tried the second batch yet. I may though.
But about that airplane book, did they think about the taxi roll to the runway. That's usually about 2 miles right there. And most big planes can lower the mainlanding gear without the nose gear incase of a malfunction. It wouldn't be a fun landing, but everyone would live. (Airplane stories are my pet peeve.)
------------------ It doesn't matter if you don't know what you're doing as long as you look good doing it.
posted
I've read both 2061 and 3001 already. I heard an interesting rumor though: 3001 may be made into a movie. Icky...
------------------ Me: "Why don't you live in Hong Kong?" Rachel Roberts: "Hong Kong? Nah. Oh, but we can live in China! Yeah, China has great Chinese food!"
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