What's DLP's opinion on World War Z? Thinking about reading it....

 

The tactics are retarded, and the overall plot is, by no means amazing, but it's a half-decent book.

 

Thoroughly enjoyed, and re-read a couple times. Currently on loan to my brother, who also loved it.

 

Considering it was written by Mel Brooks' (High Anxiety, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, History of the World Part I) son, its certainly an interesting thing to look at, considering how awesome his father is...

And also relevant: The Inquisition! Lets begin! The Inquisition! Look out sin! We have a mission to convert the Jews! (Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew)

Now where are my nuns?!

 

It's good to be the king.

Interview with Max Brooks on YouTube

Talks about his books and his troubled childhood, apparently growing up as Mel Brooks' son wasn't easy: "It takes a long time to bury a hooker."

I think I'll buy World War Z after I finish Locke Lamora.

 

It's quite enjoyable. There's one or two bits that are sluggish but it goes with the strange format. There are several brilliant moments and if you're an outright zombie-genre fan there are bits that'll make you grin like an idiot.

Here's hoping Pitt doesn't fuck up the movie adaptation too much - I'm still trying to figure out how it's possibly going to work.

 

... LMFAO. That's just awesome. The Twilight response was best. Seriously.

 

The audiobook of World War Z was pretty good, albeit abridged. I recommend reading the book first, then listening to the audiobook when you've got time to burn.

 

Especially since Mark Hamill plays one of the main characters. I fucking love that guy.

 

So I've got the next week off and I need something to read. Anyone know of any really funny, character-based (not in the mood for a lot of action) novels?

 

Max Berry's Jennifer Government is pretty fun and a tad bit of action. Wizard of Yurt is decent too...

Also the classic, Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy...

 

I shall check those out, thanks. As for Hitchhiker's Guide, look at my sig. :awesome

 

They're not to everyone's taste, but you might enjoy Tom Holt's books; they're similar to Douglas Adams' in some ways. o_o

 

My library doesn't stock him. :[

 

If you do check him out, make sure to read the J.W.Wells books - 'The Portable Door', 'In Your Dreams', and 'Earth, Air, Fire and Custard'. His other books are a little hit and miss, but those three are sure fire hits.

Edit: ninja'd.

 

I need a new paperback for my daily two hour long bus ride. Hardcovers are simply too impractical in these totally cramped spaces.

I refuse to buy anything but finished series as paperbacks, hence I'm right now thinking about getting either Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy or Joe Abercrombie's The First Law Trilogy. Opinions on both series?

The Night Angel cover looks eerily similar to Assassins Creed but it's gotten quite a lot of positive reviews, so I'm open to suggestions.

 

Haven't read the Night Angel trilogy but First Law is brilliant, well worth a read.
If you're looking for other suggestions, I'd recommend Kate Griffin's two books A Madness of Angels and The Midnight Mayor - fairly similar in concept to Dresden, but set in London and a lot weirder.

 

I've read four books from Lois McMaster Bujold's The Miles Vorkosigan Saga, and it's good enough that I can't stop reading. The series revolves around the misadventures of Miles Vorkosigan, "a physically disabled aristocrat from the planet Barrayar whose life (from before birth), military career, and post-military career is a challenge to his native planet's prejudices against mutants". The characters are likable and three dimensional. The plots are intricate, interesting, and well-paced.

Miles could be described as a youthful, energetic Sherlock Holmes with the physique of an 80 year old man who frequently finds himself caught up in political intrigue and James Bond-like adventures in space.

I've only read four out of the nearly twenty books in the series. I can't say that it's all good with 100% certainty, but it's definitely good enough to be getting on with! It's received a handful of Hugo awards, won a Nebula for Best Novel, and has been a nominee for both awards many times.

You can read it for free. Every book in the series has been released freely online by the author. You can choose to read it immediately in html or download one of the many ebook formats that it's being distributed in. You don't even have to register. Just click click read.

You might find a galactic wormhole map to be a helpful tool to orient yourself while reading. Vorkosigan fans on the author's mailing list have provided. http://pw1.netcom.com/~fresne/nexus.htm

edit: I'm reading the series by internal chronological order, rather than published order, and I started with Warrior's Apprentice (the first book in the Young Miles omnibus). I didn't want to bother reading the prequel stories focusing on Miles' parents until I'd read enough core stories to grow attached to the Vorkosiverse.

edit2: I started reading Ethan of Athos. The first chapter was boring and a hurdle to get over; on top of that, it's a story that doesn't feature Miles as an on-screen character at all. Thankfully the story quickly leaves the planet of Athos and the boring early chapter is rapidly supplanted by a ripping plot and some new, and not-so-new, characters. It ties in to events peripherally mentioned in the preceding novel Cetaganda. The start of Ethan of Athos made me consider skipping it in the series, but now I'm glad that I pushed on and continued reading. It was great.

edit3: Apparently Miles likes his women big. Like climbing a mountain big. The imagery brings to mind Hagrid's father screwing a giantess, or a budgie fucking an emu. Hilarious. Ballsy. Desperate.

edit4: I've just finished reading Memory. It comes after Mirror Dance in the internal chronology. All of the books from Warrior's Apprentice right through to Brothers in Arms are rollicking adventures and make great reading. The next book, Mirror Dance, is dark and ugly, but does a wonderful job of humanising a character who I had previously and eagerly wanted to see die a miserable and lonely death. Then came Memory. I think it might be my favourite in the series so far. Memory is a major turning point in Miles' life. It captures Miles' changing from a young man to a mature adult. I found much of the plot to be more predictable than previous stories, but it's executed with such poignancy and competence that I found it simply a pleasure to read.

Memory seems to have been accidentally left out of the compilation of free ebooks for the Vorkosigan Saga. I'm sure that you can find it by other methods. Baen Books has the DRM-free ebook for $6 if that suits you.

 

I've lost the ability to edit my previous post, so I'll add here that Memory is available for free on Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=H3ooexGn8gAC

Also, I'd recommend staying away from the very first book in the series, Shards of Honor. It's not very good. Skip it unless you're keen to find out how Miles' mother, father, and Sergeant Bothari met. Miles' mother and father are much better people in the later books. It's a bit underwhelming to see their younger, less fully developed characters in a poor romantic sub-plot.

 

Hope you decided to read this one. First Law is brilliant, and the final book is my favorite piece of epic fantasy not written by George RR Martin. A lot of genre subversion that's not immediately evident. Characters are dark and complex and compelling -- I can't imagine anyone at DLP not appreciating Sand dan Glotka, a forgotten war hero trying to survive as a crippled torturer.