READERS UNITE

Science fiction - The Culture series by Iain M. Banks is superb, and the best sci-fi I've read by several parsecs. Please, PLEASE read them.

Fantasy - The Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake with Lord of the Rings a remote second. Most of the rest is derivative drivel.

I voted for 'other', though.

The Flashman papers by George Macdonald Frazer - The Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian - Anything by P.G.Wodehouse or Charles Dickens

My all-time favourite is "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte (I'm not gay, honest) with "The Code of the Woosters" by P.G.Wodehouse breathing over her shoulder.

flashman said:
My all-time favourite is "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte (I'm not gay, honest)

hmmm, i am about as un-gay as it can get, and i loved this story as well.. what would make one assume gay-ism with this title?

hell i already admitted that i loved the little house series, thats just about as pansy as one could possibly get :biggrin:

seriously though, how can a books genre be considered... gay?

i love reading so much, that i would consider it sacrilegious to harm one in any way.. i would never even entertain the idea, even if it were a book i would consider tripe/drivel or just plain s**t.. it is still a book and should be considered sacred.

seriously though, how can a books genre be considered... gay?

It was said tongue in cheek, really. It's a love story and considered by most to be a "Woman's book". Apologies to anyone offended.

i love reading so much, that i would consider it sacrilegious to harm one in any way.. i would never even entertain the idea, even if it were a book i would consider tripe/drivel or just plain s**t.. it is still a book and should be considered sacred.

[color=white]Ditto the above, but much of the rubbish that's churned out should have never made it into print in the first place and certainly not worth killing trees for.[/color]

Tom Clancy is cool. And so is Stephen King.

Tom Clancy is cool. And so is Stephen King.

ha ha ha ha ha

Crono said:

Tom Clancy is cool. And so is Stephen King.

ha ha ha ha ha

What ? I liked Desperation and Misery.

Granted Misery is alright. But Desperation ... come on. That book is about 300 pages longer then it should have been, simply because it's boring as hell, not to mention he just re-wrote one of his old stories: The Regulators. That was crap too. In fact, short of The Shining, Misery, Insomnia, and a few others he has no basis for being a good writer, and if you don't agree with that you can certainly agree he can't come up with anything new. There's plently of avenues he hasn't explored in his writing. A few years ago he just started mixing his stories up to make new ones *cough*Desperation*cough*.

Granted Misery is alright. But Desperation ... come on. That book is about 300 pages longer then it should have been, simply because it's boring as hell, not to mention he just re-wrote one of his old stories: The Regulators. That was crap too. In fact, short of The Shining, Misery, Insomnia, and a few others he has no basis for being a good writer, and if you don't agree with that you can certainly agree he can't come up with anything new. There's plently of avenues he hasn't explored in his writing. A few years ago he just started mixing his stories up to make new ones *cough*Desperation*cough*.

You seem to have read an awful lot of his work for such a harsh critic :rolleyes:

How can you call King a boring writer? If you're looking for a great deal of active horror story telling, read Koontz or something- King isn't trying to write that kind of story. He's writing it from a more psychological point of view- the effect of grotesque things on the minds of the characters. And for that effect, he hits it right on the head.

You seem to have read an awful lot of his work for such a harsh critic :rolleyes:

Not really, just the things that were recommended by people's opinions I trust. Most of his books I've started and never finished, because they were crap. There's only a handful out of many that are actually good or at least entertaining.

Monqui, I'm saying he's boring in that he takes no risks as a writer. He writes only what he knows, which is boring. Even given the themes of his writing, psychological struture of the characters, he delivers poor plot and dialog. I never said his characters were bad, but I've seen them again and again, they get very old.

Personally I don't see the point in writing unless you have something to say. It seems King hasn't had anything to say for the last decade. But this is just my opion, likewise there is no possible way you can make me think any differently. I think he's a terrible writer now.

Maybe this will help. Have you ever seen a play with actors who have performed that play numerous times (as in a nationwide performance). Basically they have their performances down to a T. But ... when they do that, they lose something. You can tell that they're waiting for the other actor(s) to finish their lines so they can say theirs and the play can move on. King in the same light does this with his writing, and its painfully obvious.

You're spot-on, Crono. His early stuff is good (Salem's lot is very good) but now it's the same, stale old characters wheeled out time and time again in ever more ludicrous storylines.

Has anyone read any of his Fantasy stuff? What's it like?

You're spot-on, Crono. His early stuff is good (Salem's lot is very good) but now it's the same, stale old characters wheeled out time and time again in ever more ludicrous storylines.

Has anyone read any of his Fantasy stuff? What's it like?

My flatmate got sent a few books of a fantasy series of his accidentally from Amazon, and they said he could keep them rather than waste money shipping them back. Anyway, he says they are good, can't remember the series or whatever though.

I read Salem's Lot a long long time ago. I didn't take a book on holiday to spain and got really bored, and it was the only English book I could find that seemed mildly interesting :biggrin: I enjoyed it quite a lot, but was mostly disappointed by his books I read since then.

i am not a Steven King fan as far as reading goes, BUT i do highly recommend two of his works to everyone i meet.

"Eyes of the Dragon" and "bag of bones" is perfection IMO..

my wife reads anything with his name on it as if its a god send, but i am not of such a mindset.

Yeah, the thing is, he has writen amazing books. Its just that ... out of his entire bibliography most of his 'work' isn't good ... or even close

The Dark Tower Series is supposedly some of his best stuff.

I just think King is overrated ... like George Lucas.

Yeah, the thing is, he has writen amazing books. Its just that ... out of his entire bibliography most of his 'work' isn't good ... or even close

The Dark Tower Series is supposedly some of his best stuff.

I just think King is overrated ... like George Lucas.

Dark Tower, thats the one my flatmate has a few books of :smile:

rockin' roll

To be honest I don't read much. To be honest I don't like reading very much, maybe because I've never found something that really suits me.

But I have read Salems lot and that book was quite good. There's just one thing I wanna know: in the end of the book, when he throws the cigarette in the woods, he read something on the packet of cigarettes: in hoc signo vinces. I dunno if it's latin. Does anyone know what it means?

I slapped it into a translator and it says (literally) "Into this you will conquer I mark"

Meaning probably "You will conquer this" or something as such ... I never read Salems Lot, so, draw your own connections :smile:

Mostly socio/political/historical based accounts on events in history, although I do enjoy novels which touch on the socio-political theme as well - 1984, farenheit 451, animal farm, of mice and men.. etc.
also various "comics" v for vendetta, transmetropolitan series.. anything my DC enabled buddies throw my way in an attempt to turn me subversive :razz:

Certain crime novels as well, anything by James Ellroy or based in the police/political world of America with tangled plots, yummy :razz: loadsa stuff really, current read is "Max Hastings - The Korean War" :razz:

i ticked other :wink:

flashman said:
You're spot-on, Crono. His early stuff is good (Salem's lot is very good) but now it's the same, stale old characters wheeled out time and time again in ever more ludicrous storylines.

Has anyone read any of his Fantasy stuff? What's it like?

I've read the first dark tower book, and liked it very much. I don't really like is writing style that much though.

I agree ... Stephen King cannot write any book different from a psychological horror-fest ... but what if you w?nt to read such kind of book ... in that genre, he is one of the top writers.

Force, you missed the point, man.

I have no problem with psychological 'horror-fest' of sorts. However, the manner in which King presents his stories is ridiculous. Not to mention the tired,old characters. Also, if you notice, most all of his books have to do with super-natural or paranormal 'horror'. Even when he 'explores' the horror of the human mind, he does it in a very 'fantastical' way. I think that the best horror is very close to truth, that is why stories like Misery are his best. Because they are believable and there is nothing 'supernatural' about it. He seems to be a little lacking in the area of believability at times.

I'm not saying that paranormal horror is bad or anything, I just think he killed off the ideas of possesion, aliens, and satanic spirits ... I mean ... he had books seperatly dealing with each ... then he mushed them together *cough*Desperation*cough*. I for one am glad he's retiring. However, I really wonder what he could have come up with if he had something great to say, and if he did have something great to say ... then he convoluted it in his stories, because it is very hard to find.

"Stephen King cannot write any book different from a psychological horror-fest"

Not true. The Dark Tower series of books, (all of which I have read), are much closer to sci-fi/fantastical, than horror. This story really takes its time developing the main characters, and end up being a really great, mysterious, strange tale. The story is finished (7 books I think), with the last 2 books being released this within the next year.

At first glance King seems to have a cookie cutter style of writing, but I do beleive there is a little more depth to his abilites and imagination, than that. I very much enjoyed his books as a kid, and look forward to completing the Dark Tower series. I will admit though, I feel I have somewhat outgrown his horror stories.

What's that bash quote..

• xjeff does not read books(he thanks there a waist of time)

Tom Clancy has devloped the same sort of cookie-cutter syndrome in his later work. I stopped reading after "the bear and the dragon" because it was such a lame recreation of his earlier work. it was like he decided to rewrite "Executive Orders", which might have been okay, but he did a terrible job of it. I don't know if there is a similar degradation in Kings work with time, since the only one I have ever read is Dark Tower: Book 1

I like to re-read Machiavelli's "The Prince" from time to time, although I'm not that much of a philosophy fan. But this book's very smart.

Well I read Clancy's latest book, "Teeth of the Tiger", and I really enjoyed it.

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

I think perhaps what got me most was the intro, in which he introduces you to a character with significant detail, leading you to believe he is going to be somewhat important. Next thing you know he is just killed off by some random dude, who turns out to be a hugely important enemy. Not exactly breakthrough, yet it left me going "Oh, THAT was unexpected".

Pity about the ending, it had better be getting a follow up as I don't like the way it was left hanging.

/***SPOILERS***

/***SPOILERS***

/***SPOILERS***

for you star trek fans.. they have started a new concept in trek books.. the lost era series..

THIS is the best i have read to date, as far as any trek books i have read, and believe me, my collection is substantial..

i recommend this series..

Not a big fan on Trek books to be honest. Not a big fan of Star Wars books either, except the ones writen by Timothy Zahn. Damn those are awesome: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command. Is considered by many people to be the best trilogy of books in that whole 'universe', except for the movies of course.

Crono said:
Not a big fan on Trek books to be honest. Not a big fan of Star Wars books either, except the ones writen by Timothy Zahn. Damn those are awesome: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command. Is considered by many people to be the best trilogy of books in that whole 'universe', except for the movies of course.

T.Z. is very good.. he is the Ed Greenwood of starwars :smile:

Referring back a few posts-

Actually, I find most of King's short stories to be very unlike most of his full-length novels. I've got most of the collections and have been very happy with all of them. But I guess that doesn't say much since I'm a fan of his anyways... Bah. Whatever.

Crono said:
Not a big fan on Trek books to be honest. Not a big fan of Star Wars books either, except the ones writen by Timothy Zahn. Damn those are awesome: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command. Is considered by many people to be the best trilogy of books in that whole 'universe', except for the movies of course.

Those were indeed great books. I've never read any other Star Wars books though. I try to stay away from such canned genres.

I may have to try out Teeth of the Tiger...

Don't buy the hardback then, I wouldn't wanna get you buying something you end up hating for insane amounts of cash :biggrin:

ReNo said:
Don't buy the hardback then, I wouldn't wanna get you buying something you end up hating for insane amounts of cash :biggrin:

if its an author i trust, and i can find it for a decent bargain, i will grab a hardcover in a second :smile: even if its a title i have not yet read.

i do however have gobs more paperbacks.. price/value is the driving force though :sad:

Most of my books are paperbacks, I have very very few hardbacks. In fact, Teeth of the Tiger is one of them, but only because I mentioned I wanted it around christmas, and as it was a new book the paperback wasn't available by then :biggrin:

Tracer Bullet said:
Tom Clancy has devloped the same sort of cookie-cutter syndrome in his later work. I stopped reading after "the bear and the dragon"

I put away that book too after the first 100 pages ... became boring, and I had that d?ja-vu thing.

I've only read about 5 or so of his books, and three of those were somewhat unpublicised ones (Netforce...pretty crappy, and a couple of Op Centre books...not amazing, but enjoyable enough). In comparison, Rainbow Six and Teeth of the Tiger are pretty damned excellent :smile: Rainbow Six is definately my favourite though, I enjoyed that a lot.

I keep telling you man. pick up a copy of Without Remorse. you won't regret it.

You do? I don't recall you mentioning it before, but then I'm a forgetful sod :biggrin: I'll try and find a copy somewhere, thanks for the recommendation :smile:

Seems like we've had the Clancy discussion in at least one other thread.

Yeah I do recall it coming up at least once in the past :smile:

flashman said:
Science fiction - The Culture series by Iain M. Banks is superb, and the best sci-fi I've read by several parsecs. Please, PLEASE read them.

Iain Banks sucks goats IMHO.. hrm but may as well investigate...

Iain Banks sucks goats IMHO..

I know what you mean, Leperous. The stuff he's done without the middle M. can be a bit hit and miss (I'd like to bet you haven't read "Complicity"). His sci-fi though, (with the M.), is in a different league altogether.

hrm but may as well investigate...

If you E-mail me a postal address I'll gladly send you some.

Er, I mean the one with the M Tried reading "Excession", "The Bridge" and "The Wasp Factory" but, I don't know, it was like being stuck in a vast plain boring swamp of hard-going goo :/

"Excession" - with the M - is my favourite (sobs) but probably not the best to kick off with. Try "Consider Phlebas".

"The Bridge" - without the M - is my favourite (aarghhh)

Ah well, horses for courses, eh?

I think Philip K. Dick deserves a mention, too. "Ubik" is very good.

flashman said:
Iain Banks sucks goats IMHO..

hrm but may as well investigate...

flashman, the lightblue text is unofficially reserved for "mild humor" and "mild sarcasm" sometime both at once..

Or for writing :rolleyes: