Don't know if this has ever been done, but I would like to start a "Currently Reading" Thread. I am not an avid reader, as the book has to be superb for me not to get bored after the first page, but I'm half way through The Da Vinci Code after 4 days!

What are you lot into ATM?

Actually the Da Vinci code is not very well written. The story line isn't so bad though for a piece of total escapism.

I used to read all sorts of stuff. Now I write and so only read when out of ideas.

My reading is pure escapism too and revolves around humorous fantasy like Terry Pratchett and defective stories.

Last book I read was Thud by Pratchett.

Thud! is one of the best books I have ever read - no book apart from that one has actually made me cry out "NO!!" whilst reading at 2AM. It even knocked off Men at Arms as my favourite Pratchett book.

So I'll stop now before I get going I am a total Bernard Cornwell fan - I love the Sharpe books, they are the reason I'm going into the career I am, and the new Uhtred series that he is writing now. And what's more, I might even meet him in August if our shop manages to win negotiations with HarperCollins

I'm currently looking to diversify what I read - I'm such a completist with the two above authors that I haven't read much else. I read Da Vinci Code (like everyone else in the country, apparently three times over judging by the sales ) I prefered Angels and Demons to DVC as it took a more even-handed look at the Church (not that I don't mind DVC's attacks on it) and kept the reader twisting and turning a bit more. I'm not generally into thrillers/conspiracy theory stuff so I can't really judge it in the genre.

I've just read two David Gemmel books, apparently the "master of heroic fantasy". And I'll admit, he's pretty good at that. The most recent one I've read reads just like how one wishes online RPs would play. However, he rushes through the story a bit too fast for me, especially in Sword In The Storm - that book could have been double the thickness and not suffered a jot. Maybe that's just my taste though.

I'd like to read some David and Leigh Eddings books (because there are so many it'll take me a while) and maybe some sci-fi, Isaac Asimov or... damn, can't remember the guy's name. Wrote Hyperion at any rate. Can anyone recommend something in those genres?

Oh yes, and I want to read some of Macdonald Fraser's Flashman books, just because in the blurb of them Flashman is described as a "cad and a bounder". Nothing with a character description like that can be bad

Dan Simmons is the guy you're thinking of, and they're definitely worth reading. Also, I'd suggest Iain M. Banks' Culture books, if you can find them. Most of them are out of print and hard to find at a sane price (at least in the US).

I don't see any harm in making this a sticky.

I'm currently reading 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King and Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S Lewis.

Talk about opposites! (I read the King book during the day because I'M A BIG WUSS!)

Currently reading 'The War Among The Angels' by Michael Moorcock. Love his style of writing and use of language.


I can definitely second Peregrine's recommendation of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels - 'Excession' and 'Player of Games' are my favourites among his books. Very well written, and stunningly imaginative - science fiction doesn't get much (if any!) better than that.
Peregrine: Have you tried ordering from amazon UK? Iain M. Banks' books are widely available here.

I've found plenty of sources for the books, the only problem is the cost. Between the higher cost of the out of print editions and the shipping costs, they end up costing way more than normal prices. I just checked amazon UK and it's the same problem again... they want $12 just for the shipping cost on the cheapest shipping option (normal books cost $8 at most, shipping included).

We have loads of Iain M. Banks stuff in store (Waterstones - your local book store ™ ), and that was one of the guys I knew I'd left off my list. Cheers for the reminder of Dan Simmons, and for the recommendation. I only mentioned them because the covers are shiny and good-looking

Never really liked the look of Stephen King - I'm not one for horror movies or books, although I have it on good authority that Rats by James Herbert is scary as hell. C.S. Lewis enjoyed something of a rebirth in sales when the Narnia film came out, but nothing like as spectacular as LotR did, of course. I'm thinking about reading one of his religious texts just to see what he was going on about.

I'm not a King fan either. I think he is little more than a hack these days. His novels from the 70s (ie: his early work) is his best stuff. The Dark Tower books (I-IV) are epic and some of the best examples of writing around. When he returned to finish the series, he pulled a George Lucas...changing the previous books and giving the whole thing a very lacklustre cliched finale. Ugh.

Also he has something against animals, I have not read one book of his where the sod does not go into detail about killing or hurting a dog.

I was a big fan of the 70's mini-series of 'Salems Lot however.

As for C.S Lewis, one must keep in mind his books are for children and on that level they work really well. I do enjoy childrens fantasy as it is not as pretentious as some 'adult' works and I don't have to slog through awkward sex scenes by nerdy authors.

No, Da Vinci Code is not well-written in a literary sense, but is does keep pulling you on and on through your own relentless quest to find out what the hell is going on. To keep me interested is a merit in its own right!

If all authors throughout history should suddenly disappear except one, it should definitely be Tolkien. J.R.R. that is - not Christopher's attempts to milk the legend dry. Admittedly, he has exposed previously unknown material, but now he's just living off the name, IMHO.

I've never read King either, but Salem's Lot does attract me.

As soon as I finish DVC, I'm going to start on my Dad's (complete) Terry Pratchett collection. He met him many years ago, and had him dedicate a hardback copy (of "Mort", I think) to me!

Anybody ever read any Jack Vance? A true magician with words, but so hard to find .

You guys ought to read Jane Lindskold's Firekeeper series... It's very well written. SHe did a few books with Roger Zelazny before he died, i think.

A while ago I finished the saga of Darren Shan. It's a about vampires. Very different from the standard vampire child stories, and very nice. 12 books, and it got better every book. I've just started the Da Vinci code as well, because i've seen how famous it has become. And because I had finished the last book I had at that moment, the abbys. I'm not that far in it yet but I like the story.

The Darren Shan books have been pretty popular in sales, and the final one (I think) called Slawter (Darren Shan may be a good author, but not a good speller ) has just been released. My sister is reading through them, which is damned surprising since she hardly reads anything, so I guess that's something in their favour.

Just started a Philip K. %&$! story, fairly short by my standards but thats not a bad thing, called Cantata-140, as it was the only one in the local library So far, seems interesting. He instantly jumps into the story and expects the reader to pick up the intricacies (poor sp) of the story and sci-fi tech-terms very quickly, which can be a bit jolting. I've only just realised that the 'scutter this character is repairing is not a robot hoover, but in fact a teleporter . Like I said, not much in the way of explanation. I shall inform further when I've finished

Just finished DVC last night. You'll be surprised when you find out that Robert Langdon is...... lol, not really!

I think the best way to describe it is enthralling. No literary masterpiece, but you won't be able to put it down until the end. See how many of the codes you can break! I got 2 of them.



Just started reading a book in Spanish about a woman author who goes to live in a huge mental asylum to write a book about her experiences. I'll probably leave it for a while though, 'cos I've vowed to start reading Terry Pratchett!

Loveme, I presume you mean Philip K. D¡ck, but the anti-swear system got the better of you! I've never read any of his work, but it looks fascinating. Check out the entry on him in Wikipedia and particularly the part about his visions.



Anybody read Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach? If not, do so!

Okay, I finished Cantata-140, and I've got to say, I'm pretty disappointed. It was pretty short, as I said, but I got the feeling that Monsieur %&$! (other string of Shift-Num symbols) didn't know if he was writing a short story or a novel. He adds in quite a bit of side-stuff that would be good in a novel as they could be explored further, but in a short story seem tacked on and makes the rest of the story unwieldy. Added to that, he steams through the story at a breakneck pace which makes comprehension of the instant changes to the storyline, not helped by the aforementioned "tech-lingo" (even now, I'm still not sure what a jerry is).

Theres some attempts at philosophy in terms of racial differences, but if that is supposed to be the main "message" of the book it comes across garbled and half-cut. The characters are inconsistent in their behaviour (especially in the latter stages of the story), or at least exhibit behaviour that would have been understandable had the author taken the time to explain it.

Overall, a bit naff unfortunately. Its probably wrong to judge an author by a single book (for instance, I took a disliking to Terry Pratchett after reading Truckers when I was 7; look what a mistake I made there ) but I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Perhaps I should read one of his more famous books, Minority Report perhaps, to see if those are better.

Those links turn up bad by the way karkarinus, but I had a glance at the page after searching Wiki. An, erm, interesting man to say the least.

Um, yeah, the damn anti-swear bag of pants went and bally well anti-sweared me flipping links, the blighter!

Shame you didn't like the story - I had hoped it might be a good one for me to read.

Can you post a quotation with "jerry" in some kind of context?

Erm, too lazy to do an exact quote but its generally used in the context of describing someone as old, but more as the stage post-growing old, possibly some sort of life-extension process. Its a bit hard to explain, especially since the author *string of top-row-of-the-keyboard-symbols* doesn't say anywhere in the book, just dropping it in and expecting the reader to know what it means.

Perhaps 'jerry' in that context is a corruption of 'geriatric'? Just guessing, since I haven't read the story.

Yeah, I was gonna say that judging by the context it could be geriatric. The general consensus of opinion on Cantata-140 seems to be that it is not one of Mr. D¡ck's (ha-haa! I beat the system! ) best works, and that his style is to use a kind of jargon that is apparently well-established in his imaginary societies, but does little to explain it to the reader.

Slawter? Is that one of his new series because I thought the saga of darren shan was over. I haven't started with his new series though.. After the da vinci code perhaps

I dunno if its in a series, although I think it might have something to do with a vampyre book he did a while ago, I'm not sure - I don't deal with the kids section

Theta and karkarinus, that sounds about right, more fool me for not recognising it Fortunately I've now found a new author who is ace, Peter K. Hamilton. I'm currently reading Pandora's Star and, as the blurb reviews say, he makes intelligent space opera work. I would recommend it to anyone - don't be put off by the size of it (800+ pages in the hardback) you really don't notice it, and the sci-fi terms are so much better handled than D ick, it feels so natural.

Anyways, that's that one. I have a question though, has anyone read Tom Clancy, and if so what do you think of his works?

Can anyone give me any insight into the work of H.P. Lovecraft or Edgar Allan Poe?

I was kindly given a selection of Poe's short stories for Christmas, but sadly it is in Spanish. I imagine that in its original language, his work has a dark, misterious air about it, and kind of whisks you off into his worlds, but this feeling is lost in translation, and only manages to do my head in with long cumbersome sentences, far too long for their own good! Or is it like that in English too?

I am also thinking of buying a couple of Lovecraft books: "The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre," and "The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories." These have always been really enticing to me, but I've never got round to reading them. Any comments?

The Davinci code movie was better than the book.I read my two novels."Gold Heat" about a boy in WW2 who parents died and lives in a tunnel.It is finished."Destrap" is a book about a terorist atacking The White House and kil president Kenedy and how it would be without a president.It is about a little worst than having Bush LOL. .I write alot a music and play it on the guitar.

Really? Everyone I've talked to about it says its pish - I haven't summoned the energy to see it yet. On the "youth in WWII" theme I read a book years ago, called something like "Land of the Rising Sun", about a lad whose parents are killed in Shanghai and then being somehow sent to an internment camp. As I recall it was an excellent book, well worht the read. If only I could remember its name...

I still haven't got round to seeing the DVC film, but from what I've heard it's fairly true to the film but misses the mark somewhat. Having said that, my mum thinks that the book goes o.t.t. about some aspects. I still maintain that it was a compelling read, although it lacks re-read appeal.

Loveme: could that book have been "Empire of the Sun" by J.G. Ballard? It was made into a film by Spielberg. Autobiographical and I suppose deeply moving, although I haven't read the book or seen the film - myself, I prefer more 'escapism' when I read. I need to be transported away much further than even Japan! The closest I've got to gritty realism is "Hard Times" by D¡ckens, and "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoievsky, the latter of which I haven't finished yet. I have to force myself to read it, which can't be good!

Deathmatch: I was wondering if your first language is English, because from what I have seen, DVC seems to lose a lot in translation to other languages.

Another 'adventures of an orphaned child' story, although dramatically different from anything you've ever read is "The Perfume" by Patrick Süskind. I think it was originally in German, but even in Spanish it was absolutely enthralling. Do not be put off by the title - you will not believe your... er.... nose!


(EDIT: That dawg-gawn anti-swear again! Can't even write D¡ckens without it bleeping me out!)

Karkarinus is right, definitely Empire of the Sun. I own a copy, the movie is excellent.

"Destrap" is now finished.You guys got me to remember to write the last chapter.I am now starting a oblivion based book called "Open Evil.Which is only 9 chapters.About what goes on in the Oblivion world.

I finished Voyage of the Dawn Treader and am now reading The Silver Chair. The 6th book in the Chronicles of Narnia.

I must say, C.S Lewis' writing gets better and better as the series progresses, there are lots of dark moments in his books, some truly frightening ones as well. Even for a horror fantatic like me and I just love fantasy and horror combined.

Also, while it is a kids book, he is not shy about the subject of death and many a seeminingly notable or innocent character have met an untimely and depressing end.

The Narnia books are on my list to read after seeing the movie last year. I read C.S. Lewis adult fantasy trilogy Out of the Silent Planet/Perelandra/That Hideous Strength many years ago and enjoyed those. Probably worth looking into if you have enjoyed Narnia.

J. G. Ballard is an excellent , albeit often rather strange, writer in general although I haven't read Empire of the Sun but did thoroughly enjoy the movie. Another book on my to be read list. Also, seeing the movie may provide some insight into why many of Ballard's books are rather strange.

I just finished reading Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark. One of my dad's countless old books he recommended I read. Never read anything else by him, but the book was very good. A sci-fi about these guys who search an alien ship drifting through space. I loved the author's use of real physics terms in this ship that uses centrifical force as gravity, makes it more believeable. A very good read.
Currently rereading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The first time I read the series I got halfway through the third book Life the Universe, and Everything. Then I stopped for reasons I cannot remember. I love this book. Is is the funniest book I have ever read, period. Thinking of putting a joke from it into my sig too, something short and sweet.

Good grief! What was with my spelling/grammar in that post of mine you quoted? I must have been multitasking. Thanks for the tip, after reading The Chronicles, I will definitely keep an eye out for that trilogy. It will be interesting to see how his writing style differs for an adult audience.

I've just polished off Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton, and I have to say it was one of the most satisfying reads I've had in many years. The characters are wonderfully solid and thought-out, and the storyline is perfectly paced. I thought at the start that it was a bit jarring to have so many minor characters introduced, but about half-way/two-thirds of the way through everything suddenly clicks and you understand why he didn't wait to introduce them. Some sections which focus on a single subject, for instance the explanation of the "main" aliens in the book, are exceptional in bringing comprehension swiftly to the reader. I would heartily recommend it to anyone and everyone, even if they aren't sci-fi fans. Now, if only my library stocked the sequel Judas Unchained I'd be set - as it is, I have to buy them both from work

Also finished reading A Regimental Affair by (Brigadier) Allann Mallison. I think I would have been better served by starting at the beginning of the Matthew Hervey series, as Mallison doesn't put a great deal of explanation of the past into the story; compared to Cornwell, who does enough that anyone could pick up any of his books, out of order, and instantly comprehend the characters and their histories. The language is also a shade jarring, being exceedingly 19th century. While I don't mind it - indeed, I enjoy reading a book of that style - it does interrupt the flow of the story a little, and would certainly spoil the book for anyone who doesn't "get" the style of writing quickly. Also, there is very little - actually, there is no action whatsoever in the book. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the excellence of Bernard Cornwell's falir for action sequences, but there is nothing in the book that comes even close to that level. Again, perhaps I should have read the first two which sound like they would contain a bit more vigour. As it is, while I enjoy the characters (I think the period writing style makes it all the easier to hate Lt. Col. Towcester) I wouldn't re-read this book - but I would read its follow-on, or a prequel.

I just finished the last book of Dan Brown. I enjoyed all of em. Now i'm going to read a book written by our very own moderator Malchik! Can't play many games now anyway, so that should speed up my reading.

im reading Tyranny Of The Night by Glen Cook


I highly recommend it

FINALLY got round to reading Terry Pratchett. Starting, of course, with The Colour of Magic.

So far, it is great, (half way through so far, which is quick for me, so that's a good sign )and I can only imagine that it just gets better. Will update as and when........

At the moment all i seem to read is Terry Pratchett, just finished Thud! and re-reading Fifth Elephant. Is it just me or is Sam Vimes quite possibly the best discworld character ever ?

I finished Tyranny Of The Night


and I am currently reading The Minotaur Wars by Richard A. Knaak

Finished The Colour of Magic, and now reading The Light Fantastic.

I'm working on "Let the Galaxy Burn". It is a collection of short stories taking place in the Warhammer 40k setting (got into the setting from the game Dawn of War).

I LOVE Terry Pratchett's work! Sadly I don't have the money atm for Thud! but when I do!!! Sam Vimes is a great character, but I don't know about the best. I'd have to cast my vote on Rincewind, though I love all of the Night Watch/City Watch books.

Lately I seem to be working on my own books (writing them) then reading someone else's...

Right now I'm reading the November 2006 Analog Science Fiction. The stories I've read are very good.

Before I started reading that, I was reading S is for Space, one of Ray Bradbury's anthologies.

i'm reading the Warhammer 40k novel The Last Chancers, the Black Library omnibus.its awesome!

Now reading Mort, the 4th in the Discworld series. Great so far. Didn't like Equal Rites so much, probably because I missed Rincewind and the Luggage so much *sobs*

Anyone who wants to check out the Dragonlance novels by Weiss and Hickman, should maybe try "Kender, Gully Dwarves and Gnomes" - a collection of short stories that I found a lot easier-going than the novels themselves, to begin with.

Right now I'm reading the October 1958 issue of Infinity Science Fiction.

I read a number of Dragonlance books when I was looking for a literary version of TES. They weren't, but the stories were fun to read and I rather liked them.

I recently finished reading SHANTARAM by Gregory Roberts (brilliant),

and am now enjoying The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb.

All masterpieces.

Warcraft Archive.

Its got "Day of the Dragon", "Lord of the Clans", "The Last Guardian", and a small book "Of Blood and Honor"

I've almost finished the second book

hey, I am reading that too. currently on the first book still, just got it a week ago, and havent read past the Part with the Knights.

What a coincidence!

I am now in book three, 'bout to start chapter 2, i think.

Just picked up a couple books the other day...

"Thud!" by Terry Pratchett (have every Discworld book)
"Inheritance" by Steven Savile (Warhammer fic book)
"Faith & Fire" by James Swallow (Warhammer 40k fix book)

Not sure which to read first, most likely the Pratchett book.

I'm currently reading The Dark Tower series Book 5 "Song of Susannah" by Stephen King; And waiting on my friend to loan me "Watership Down". After that I'll probably hit up "I Lucifer"

yeah....

I am reading Where the Right went Wrong on National Security (and the Left too) by Andre Michael Eggelletion. Just started reading it, in fact, I just finished the introduction chapter today. I have been reading a lot of non-fiction of lately, and in the future for that matter, in fact, the last fiction book I read was for my history class almost a year ago (that book was The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth, I found it to be a good read).