Interestingly TV Pod wasn't introduced as early as book Pod to save room. But TV pod ends up being more important. On that note book vs tv is an interesting comparison for Tyrion. Book Tyrion is uglier and more heavily anti-hero. I'm not sure which I prefer.
Nothing, although I really feel like I should read Milton's Paradise Lost. Trouble is it looks rather daunting as poems go. There's a couple on amazon with 300+ pages, but I'm not sure if that's the whole thing.
I’m currently reading Inferno, by Dan Brown. Book 4 of the Robert Langdon series. I think I’ve come a long way with the series, since I’ve read them all in order, and am looking forward to book 5, Origin, which is his latest one (published 2017). Here’s a brief synopsis of Inferno. Florence: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings. A threat to his life will propel him and a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city. Only Langdon's knowledge of the hidden passageways and ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers. With only a few lines from Dante's Inferno to guide them, they must decipher a sequence of codes buried deep within some of the Renaissance's most celebrated artworks to find the answers to a puzzle which may, or may not, help them save the world from a terrifying threat...
I'm about to start "The Song of Achilles". It should go well with the short story I'm working on about Apollo and Hyacinthus.
I'm reading "The Song of Achilles" (officially) and it's good. Not great, but good. I think what I take issue with is Patroclus' high praise of Achilles that reads more like someone with an obsession than someone in love.
I just realised that there is a collection of short stories - Spoils of War - that has been released for Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky, a series of books that I really enjoyed last year. Read the first page and was instantly in love with the world of Insect-kinden again. I'd probably even go as far as to say that it's the favourite book series I've ever read. Just when I had been growing disgruntled with fantasy, this series succeeded in restoring my interest, and then some.
Just got it today! My gal-pal picked it up for me at Plaza Las Americas where we finally have a bookstore again, Borders having closed shop a few years ago, leaving a total void. Anywho, it’s been a while so I’m actually re-reading Nemisis Games to get reacquainted.
Prepare yourself for many references to come! It’s not every series that offers me the double joy of Amos Burton, brooding space mechanic muscle bear of my dreams and Bobbie Draper, MMC gunnery sargeant, living Valkyrie in a battle-mech suit who I would follow into the fray, victory or Valhalla assured.
Haha... I like you much better when we're discussing the genius of China Mieville or the subtle intricacies of language and culture. And I'm only about to start book 3, so no spoilers please.
So I’ve just begun reading The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho... I swear this book is transcendent. It is touching my soul on some very deep levels. From the writing to what is written, this book is surreal is it’s ability to capture the essence of humanity, or one facet of it. In the story of a boy attemting to follow his dream, Coelho recalls in us the very urge to move, to take risks and make decisions. He paints for us the universal struggle and rewards the reader for following along with his character in his journey. It’s particularly resonant with me right now as I make my return to myself. For so long, nearly four years, I have been exploring. And I did stray and dawdle in what I have found, but little by little signs and omens have been pulling me back. Now here lands this book, which urges us to learn to read omens and live courageously... it’s too much lol.
Funny you mention it, but I read that book in one sitting about 7 years ago and... remember nothing about it. I do remember feeling the same as you did at the time, but now I've got nothing. Weird.
I think the book that had that sort of effect on me was The Illuminatus! Trilogy. The phrase "communication is only possible between equals" is one of those things that's really stuck with me. Just finished I Am Slaughter, the first book of the Beast Arises series in the Warhammer 40K universe. I normally don't go too deeply into licensed universes unless the writer can do new and interesting things with the setting, but Dan Abnett is certainly one of those writers. Even though I knew the big twist going in, he does have a real talent for inducing a sense of building dread, and for really getting across just how brutal and nasty the 40K universe can be when you're caught in one of its big events. And from a lore point of view, it's interesting to read about the Imperium in M32 (when the glory days of the primarchs and Emperor are long past, but it's a stable, functional and largely sane state), and to find out about the events that turned it into the degenerated mess it's become by the "present" of the setting.
I'm currently debating what to read. I think it might be one of my "Assassin's Creed" books until I figure out what I want. I finished "The Song of Achilles" and it was another book where the ending was better than the actual book itself. I hate that I cried, but that damn ending...
If you like historically-based stories I recommend "The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness' or the Wolf Brother series for short, slightly teen-audience but interesting look at imagining early human civilisation before written history and very evocative, if a little simple.
Not so much reading, but I shall be dipping in and out of a recent book haul; The Oxford Book of Short Poems, Sidereal (a poetry collection by Rachael Boast), The Oxford Book of Contemporary Verse, and The Complete Barrack-room Ballads of Rudyard Kipling.
I'm not usually a fan of them, but "The Song of Achilles" focused on the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles, and I'm a sucker for m/m.
Ooo! I need more webcomics! I'm always up for m/m recommendations (as long as there's no m/f sex scenes...which has happened in things I've read that were supposed to be m/m).
