The Books/Reading Thread

Thanks, but im not sure im ready for the Gene Wolfe of fantasy yet. Malazan is on my to-read list though, so maybe some day.
 
i mean, one man's gene wolfe is another man's terry goodkind, but fair enough. i think erikson would be appropriate as a next step into deeper waters if you do enjoy abercrombie though. i'd also recommend glen cook's black company if you're looking for something that's not a huge commitment, fantasy in the style of a deadpan war veteran's journal and, directly or otherwise, an influence on everything else i've mentioned including abercrombie.
 
I’m all caught up on Bakker’s series, and I think it’s conceptually fabulous. Really an impressive blend of genres, and bleak as hell (which I love in fantasy). I imagine his narrative voice can be a bit grating on some readers. I’d describe it as one of high philosophy, if that makes sense; and it’s fitting given that philosophy is central to the series. But it can wear you down a bit, I find.

Bakker’s prose also isn’t always transparent, by which I mean it can be difficult to follow what’s happening sometimes. But it lends a wonderful atmosphere of mysticism to the story. And the entire narrative premise is, again, stunning.

Haven’t read Abercrombie, but I’ve heard good things. Some critics have compared him to Bakker, as I recall.

I realize no one was asking about Bakker, but thought I’d pitch in my two cents.
 
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Started reading this. Should get through it fairly quickly like any other Vonnegut novel

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Einherjar86 said:
I’m all caught up on Bakker’s series, and I think it’s conceptually fabulous. Really an impressive blend of genres, and bleak as hell (which I love in fantasy). I imagine his narrative voice can be a bit grating on some readers. I’d describe it as one of high philosophy, if that makes sense; and it’s fitting given that philosophy is central to the series. But it can wear you down a bit, I find.

Bakker’s prose also isn’t always transparent, by which I mean it can be difficult to follow what’s happening sometimes. But it lends a wonderful atmosphere of mysticism to the story. And the entire narrative premise is, again, stunning.

Haven’t read Abercrombie, but I’ve heard good things. Some critics have compared him to Bakker, as I recall.

I realize no one was asking about Bakker, but thought I’d pitch in my two cents.
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something you didn’t mention that’s unique to bakker, in my own experience at least, is the feeling of otherworldly menace and sheer perversity at times. i don’t think he’s as ‘bleak’ as somebody like erikson, whose stuff is weighed upon by a kind of grand apocalyptic melancholy, but he’s even more fucked up. it’s probably been over a decade since i read those books and some of the images and characters have really stayed with me.

i do agree his philosophical digressions can be a little overblown in places (erikson’s are more organic i think), but it’s such a strange and ambitious work that i don’t mind a bit of self-indulgence now and again.

i think you’d be disappointed with abercrombie if you go into his stuff with bakker-level expectations tbh, there’s nothing like the same originality or ambition there. i’d recommend it if you felt like something less heavy, more of a ‘badass’ page-turner.
 
no country for old wainds said:
something you didn’t mention that’s unique to bakker, in my own experience at least, is the feeling of otherworldly menace and sheer perversity at times. i don’t think he’s as ‘bleak’ as somebody like erikson, whose stuff is weighed upon by a kind of grand apocalyptic melancholy, but he’s even more fucked up. it’s probably been over a decade since i read those books and some of the images and characters have really stayed with me.

i do agree his philosophical digressions can be a little overblown in places (erikson’s are more organic i think), but it’s such a strange and ambitious work that i don’t mind a bit of self-indulgence now and again.

i think you’d be disappointed with abercrombie if you go into his stuff with bakker-level expectations tbh, there’s nothing like the same originality or ambition there. i’d recommend it if you felt like something less heavy, more of a ‘badass’ page-turner.
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Definitely agree on the menace and perversity element. There's one scene in particular that has always stuck with me--the epilogue scene in, I think, The Warrior Prophet. If I recall correctly,
the Consult is terrorizing northern settlements, and Aurax or Aurang, one of them, rapes an anonymous farmer's wife and children. The scene is disgusting and utterly heartbreaking, and left a bad taste in my mouth after finishing that book.

Just a quick comment on the "grand apocalyptic melancholy" aspect. I haven't read all of Erikson's series, so I can't speak for it. But I personally think the atmosphere of Bakker's series is heavily apocalyptic and bleak. It is known informally as The Second Apocalypse series, after all. It may not feel quite as classically grand as the Malazan series (which feels more like histories written by Tacitus, or something), but I do think there's a powerful apocalyptic gravity running throughout it.
 
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Einherjar86 said:
Just a quick comment on the "grand apocalyptic melancholy" aspect. I haven't read all of Erikson's series, so I can't speak for it. But I personally think the atmosphere of Bakker's series is heavily apocalyptic and bleak. It is known informally as The Second Apocalypse series, after all. It may not feel quite as classically grand as the Malazan series (which feels more like histories written by Tacitus, or something), but I do think there's a powerful apocalyptic gravity running throughout it.
Click to expand...

yeah, i suppose both are very bleak in their own ways, it's a big part of why i'm drawn to them. probably more accurate to say erikson has more of a tragic, melancholic quality, whereas bakker is more alienating (not a criticism) and, like i said, menacing. they both have all of these qualities in places though.
 
I read most of this last month:

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I bought it after hearing Rickards interviewed about it in a podcast. I'm not as much of a conspiracy theorist as he is, and unsurprisingly much of this is over the top with conspiracy theories, but it's also a good lesson in economic and political history, and whenever I fact-checked it online I didn't see any reason to question the non-opinion parts of the book.

Highlights include examination of the Greek debt crisis in 2015, the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944, the repeal of the British Corn Laws in 1846, and the ideas of Joseph Schumpeter.

The main part I skipped over is this really academic section on complexity theory, complete with tons of formulas. I think the main point of it is to debunk equilibrium models in economics (i.e. the idea that the economy follows a stable pattern of boom-bust cycles), which I'm willing to accept without examining my assumptions with academic rigor. I'd rather lazily conclude that economics is impossible to fully explain by either mainstream or complex models, and wallow in an ideological middle ground.
 
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That still keeps me out of the discussion. :p I read Archie comics compared to what I see in these pages :)
 
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Oh that reminds me, I also grabbed the Winterworld comic book, 1980's post-apocalyptic book set in a future where there's a new ice age and the main character has a pet attack badger. Really cool, highly recommended.
 
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