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Thread: Books!

  1. #1

    Default Books!

    As in, the pages of what vast tome or slim novella are you currently swallowed up within?

    I'm reading The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson atm. Unusual, and very well written. It's about an atheist priest who meets satan.

    Quote Originally Posted by Steely Glint View Post
    It's actually the original French billion, which is bi-million, which is a million to the power of 2. We adopted the word, and then they changed it, presumably as revenge for Crecy and Agincourt, and then the treasonous Americans adopted the new French usage and spread it all over the world. And now we have to use it.

    And that's Why I'm Voting Leave.

  2. #2
    Dreaming meat Tempus Vernum's Avatar
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    Default Re: Books!

    My list of books to read is piling up.

    I started The Greatest Show On Earth yesterday and it's fairly interesting so far.

    After that I think I'll finally get around to tackling The Gathering Storm, Brandon Sandersons attempt at The Wheel Time... I also have the first book in his Mistborn series to read and compare the writing styles.

    And while I know Iain M Banks non-culture books tend to be hit-or-miss as to whether they're any good I couldn't resist getting Transition.
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tempus Vernum
    Transition.


    New one??

    Hadn't heard ...

    That's my next read sorted then, cheers TV


    Aye, his non-culture books are hit and miss. Inversions I didn't like so much, the Algebraist I did.

    But then his last culture book; Matter, was thoroughly disappointing.
    Quote Originally Posted by Steely Glint View Post
    It's actually the original French billion, which is bi-million, which is a million to the power of 2. We adopted the word, and then they changed it, presumably as revenge for Crecy and Agincourt, and then the treasonous Americans adopted the new French usage and spread it all over the world. And now we have to use it.

    And that's Why I'm Voting Leave.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Timbuk2
    As in, the pages of what vast tome or slim novella are you currently swallowed up within?

    I'm reading The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson atm. Unusual, and very well written. It's about an atheist priest who meets satan.

    Wow, that's a stretch; a man whose very job is to be an intermediary between man and God, doesn't believe in God, then runs into proof of the very existence of God?
    Congratulations America

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tempus Vernum
    My list of books to read is piling up.

    I started The Greatest Show On Earth yesterday and it's fairly interesting so far.

    After that I think I'll finally get around to tackling The Gathering Storm, Brandon Sandersons attempt at The Wheel Time... I also have the first book in his Mistborn series to read and compare the writing styles.

    And while I know Iain M Banks non-culture books tend to be hit-or-miss as to whether they're any good I couldn't resist getting Transition.
    I really liked what Sandersons did with The Gathering Storm, but for the fact that - again - the series has been extended a couple of books.
    Congratulations America

  6. #6
    Dreaming meat Tempus Vernum's Avatar
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Timbuk2
    But then his last culture book; Matter, was thoroughly disappointing.
    Holy crap I forogot about Matter. I have it lying around somewhere at home.
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  7. #7
    Dreaming meat Tempus Vernum's Avatar
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    Default Re: Books!

    Oh yes, I'm also halfway through the Necronomicon, a collection of Lovecraft fiction. I'm finding At The Mountains of Madness fairly difficult to work through though for some reason so I'm taking a break from it for a while.
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tempus Vernum
    Oh yes, I'm also halfway through the Necronomicon, a collection of Lovecraft fiction. I'm finding At The Mountains of Madness fairly difficult to work through though for some reason so I'm taking a break from it for a while.
    Klaatu verata nuh…necktie…nectar…nickel...
    How do you expect to run with the wolves at night when you spend all day sparring with the puppies?

    - Omar Little

  9. #9
    Dreaming meat Tempus Vernum's Avatar
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by DecoyMilk
    Klaatu verata nuh…necktie…nectar…nickel...
    *facepalm*

    I think I'm going to make sure you are eaten last.
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Books!

    Sounds interesting, Tim.

    I'm on a Russian novel kick again, I'm really not sure who we're supposed to blame.



    Did any of you ever bother to try reading John Irving? His new novel came out while I was taking my break.
    We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tempus Vernum
    *facepalm*

    I think I'm going to make sure you are eaten last.

    If I didn't do it, someone else would have!
    How do you expect to run with the wolves at night when you spend all day sparring with the puppies?

    - Omar Little

  12. #12
    Dreaming meat Tempus Vernum's Avatar
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by DecoyMilk
    If I didn't do it, someone else would have!
    Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  13. #13

    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tempus Vernum

    Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

    How did Cthulhu die? And what's he dreaming about?
    How do you expect to run with the wolves at night when you spend all day sparring with the puppies?

    - Omar Little

  14. #14
    Dreaming meat Tempus Vernum's Avatar
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by DecoyMilk
    How did Cthulhu die? And what's he dreaming about?
    He is dead because the universe is not currently in a state where he can live. As to what he is dreaming about, we cannot say. How do you imagine the dreams of a creature who's mere appearance can drive you mad by its strangeness?
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  15. #15

    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tempus Vernum
    Quote Originally Posted by DecoyMilk
    How did Cthulhu die? And what's he dreaming about?
    He is dead because the universe is not currently in a state where he can live. As to what he is dreaming about, we cannot say. How do you imagine the dreams of a creature who's mere appearance can drive you mad by its strangeness?
    Perhaps the things we do to them are mad, so they dream about working 9-5, doing the washing up, peeing standing up, etc.

    Or maybe I should not post in here again cos I'm hijacking. My apologies!
    How do you expect to run with the wolves at night when you spend all day sparring with the puppies?

    - Omar Little

  16. #16
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by DecoyMilk
    Perhaps the things we do to them are mad, so they dream about working 9-5, doing the washing up, peeing standing up, etc.
    The things we do are insignificant. Lovecraft wrote a universe where humanity is completely irrelevant and when the true masters of the world return we will be swept away in the blink of an eye.
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  17. #17

    Default Re: Books!

    Last finished book was "The Jennifer Morgue" by Charles Stross. I'm currently working on "City at the End of Time" by Greg Bear. It's not as easy to get into as previous Bear novels I've read.

  18. #18
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    Default Re: Books!

    Last finished book was "The Jennifer Morgue" by Charles Stross
    I'm looking forward to the Fuller Memorandum next year. Finally we get to see what the beginnings of CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN might look like.
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  19. #19

    Default Re: Books!

    I bet it has tentacles!

  20. #20
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    Default Re: Books!

    It'll probably also be squamous.
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  21. #21

    Default Re: Books!

    Re-reading A Perfect Vacuum by Lem while waiting for new books
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  22. #22

    Default Re: Books!

    Even's Third Reich at War. Also lying near my bed with book marks in them are Castles of Steel by Robert K Masse and Transition by Iain Banks. Haven't read much of any of them recently, though.
    When the sky above us fell
    We descended into hell
    Into kingdom come

  23. #23
    Senior Member Lor's Avatar
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tempus Vernum
    Oh yes, I'm also halfway through the Necronomicon, a collection of Lovecraft fiction.
    I've got about 10 copies of Necronomicon laying around, we're on our 10th reprint i reckon (seems that way).

  24. #24
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    Default Re: Books!

    Listening to 'Dexter by design', I kind of decided to try that after hearing there were books the series is based upon. So far I enjoy it.
    Congratulations America

  25. #25

    Default Re: Books!

    The last books I read where the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson. I know they are well know so this is not really a insider tip. But I think these books are really well written.

    My favorite current Swiss author is Martin Suter: Amazon link

    From those awailable in English on Amazon I think Small World is the better one.

    Well I also recommend Dürrenmatt:
    http://www.amazon.com/Physicists-Friedr ... pd_sim_b_5
    The Physicists (German: Die Physiker) (1961) is a satiric drama often recognized as the most impressive yet most easily understood work of the Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Informed by the Second World War and the many recent advances in science and nuclear technology, the play deals with questions of scientific ethics and mankind's ability to handle its intellectual responsibilities. The play was first performed in Zürich in 1962 and has remained popular in the decades since.
    http://www.amazon.com/Friedrich-Durrenm ... =pd_cp_b_2
    "Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt

  26. #26

    Default Re: Books!

    Empire: How Britain made the Modern World - Niall Ferguson

  27. #27
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Lor
    I've got about 10 copies of Necronomicon laying around, we're on our 10th reprint i reckon (seems that way).
    I impulse bought the commemorative edition while I was in Scotland.
    Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of wafer thin printed circuits that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant.
    For you.
    Hate.
    Hate.

  28. #28

    Default Re: Books!

    The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  29. #29

    Default Re: Books!

    Got this today

    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  30. #30
    Senior Member Lor's Avatar
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    Default Re: Books!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tempus Vernum
    Quote Originally Posted by Lor
    I've got about 10 copies of Necronomicon laying around, we're on our 10th reprint i reckon (seems that way).
    I impulse bought the commemorative edition while I was in Scotland.
    I could have sent you a copy before you left dear Scotland! We'll probably end up throwing them away or they'll gather dust in the storage racks. .

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