The book discussion thread

[Kaamos_Llama]

Nearly finished Jason Schreiers Press Reset. Really interesting to hear the stories of developers from different parts of the industry from smaller scale indies like The Molasses Flood to figures like Ken Levine and people who worked with him at Irrational. I also recommend Blood Sweat and Pixels of his if anyone is interested in how the game industry works from the inside according to people on the ground.

Hes got a new book out very soon on the Story of Blizzard from the early days until now which Im looking forward to picking up.

 

[Johnway]

Another book finished, this time Fabius Bile: Clonelord by josh Reynolds.

We continue from where the first book ended. Years (centuries?) and all is not well on Fabius bile's ship, the surviving chaos marines of the 12th millennial have decided to stage an insurrection after the novelty of being saved having warn off. Although swiftly resolved with the least amount of bloodshed, the issues never let up as more enemies from his past come out of the wood work. Eidolon forces Fabius bile to return back to the planet called Harmony and offers Fabius a task of retrieving some precious (untainted) gene seed. With such a great prize on the line, Fabius agrees to the task knowing full well that its practically certain that he's going to get stabbed in the back once the job is done. But that's the least of his problems, the Gilded cage offering of restoring the Emperor's children legion to its former glory looms once more for Fabius bile and the circumstances have changed, becoming more enticing....


Another good book, this one is quite an eventful story with a lot of things happening all throughout the story with plenty of cameos from famous people i won't spoil who or what, but its great to see him. Well worth a read.

Roll on the third book.

 

[BeardyHat]

Nearly finished Jason Schreiers Press Reset. Really interesting to here the stories of developers from different parts of the industry from smaller scale indies like The Molasses Flood to figures like Ken Levine and people who worked with him at Irrational. I also recommend Blood Sweat and Pixels of his if anyone is interested in how the game industry works from the inside according to people on the ground.

Hes got a new book out very soon on the Story of Blizzard from the early days until now which Im looking forward to picking up.

I somehow have Press Reset already purchased on my Kindle, but I don't recall ever buying it. I thought about reading it, having just finished Play Nice about Blizzard, but I'm not sure if I'm a huge fan of Schreier's writing style. But maybe I'm just grating a little bit against non-fiction right now, tough to say.

That said, Play Nice was an interesting read, but I feel it's purely documentary in nature and doesn't feel like it has a whole lot to say otherwise. But again, I might just be being harsh on it, as I loved Masters of Doom, which isn't much different, aside from it taking more liberties with its characters.

Another book finished, this time Fabius Bile: Clonelord by josh Reynolds.

We continue from where the first book ended. Years (centuries?) and all is not well on Fabius bile's ship, the surviving chaos marines of the 12th millennial have decided to stage an insurrection after the novelty of being saved having warn off. Although swiftly resolved with the least amount of bloodshed, the issues never let up as more enemies from his past come out of the wood work. Eidolon forces Fabius bile to return back to the planet called Harmony and offers Fabius a task of retrieving some precious (untainted) gene seed. With such a great prize on the line, Fabius agrees to the task knowing full well that its practically certain that he's going to get stabbed in the back once the job is done. But that's the least of his problems, the Gilded cage offering of restoring the Emperor's children legion to its former glory looms once more for Fabius bile and the circumstances have changed, becoming more enticing....


Another good book, this one is quite an eventful story with a lot of things happening all throughout the story with plenty of cameos from famous people i won't spoil who or what, but its great to see him. Well worth a read.

Roll on the third book.

I need to pick-up the second Twice Dead King book. I finished the first about two years ago now and been meaning to begin the second, just haven't. Also should probably pick-up Brutal Kunnin' again, but books from an Orks perspective are always a little bit silly, so I need to see if I can get over that.

At any rate, after finishing Play Nice, I think I might read the next book in the Annhilation series by Jeff VanderMeer. I felt pretty indifferent about Annihilation after finishing it, but I was thinking about it last night and to its credit, I did finish it, which certainly isn't a thing you can say about books I'm bored by, so maybe the second book will be of interest?

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I somehow have Press Reset already purchased on my Kindle, but I don't recall ever buying it. I thought about reading it, having just finished Play Nice about Blizzard, but I'm not sure if I'm a huge fan of Schreier's writing style. But maybe I'm just grating a little bit against non-fiction right now, tough to say.

That said, Play Nice was an interesting read, but I feel it's purely documentary in nature and doesn't feel like it has a whole lot to say otherwise. But again, I might just be being harsh on it, as I loved Masters of Doom, which isn't much different, aside from it taking more liberties with its characters.

Fair enough, havent noticed the writing style bothering me, but I'm listening to the audiobook versions so that might have something to do with it. Finished Play Nice as well.

I guess theyre mostly meant to be documentaries. Theres a section at the end of Press Reset where he talks about various ways the industry could potentially avoid crunch and protect developers better in general and the up and down sides of those. Not sure what the moral or message of the Blizzard story could be though? Just a lot of interesting stories from a company that kind of grew up with the industry and the reasons why they ended up where they did.

I was also kind of neutral on Annihilation, I picked up the next in the series but havent read it. Have very little memory of what actually happened in the first book, aside from broad strokes so should probably read that again beforehand.

 

[BeardyHat]

Fair enough, havent noticed the writing style bothering me, but I'm listening to the audiobook versions so that might have something to do with it. Finished Play Nice as well.

I guess theyre mostly meant to be documentaries. Theres a section at the end of Press Reset where he talks about various ways the industry could potentially avoid crunch and protect developers better in general and the up and down sides of those. Not sure what the moral or message of the Blizzard story could be though? Just a lot of interesting stories from a company that kind of grew up with the industry and the reasons why they ended up where they did.

I was also kind of neutral on Annihilation, I picked up the next in the series but havent read it. Have very little memory of what actually happened in the first book, aside from broad strokes so should probably read that again beforehand.

Yeah, I'm just being weird about it, I think. Trying to suss out my feelings, as I mostly felt kind of neutral or indifferent towards Play Nice, which I think is the only Schrier book I've read.

Thinking back on Annihilation, some of the stuff that bothered me about it were the male author writing women characters. Not that it can't be done, but there's just some weird **** in there that gives me the Heebie Jeebies, like the main character describing feeling her husband "inside of her." The way it's written is just off putting and I've never known any woman who thinks those things; even posed the question to my wife and she gave me a weird look

 

[Johnway]

I need to pick-up the second Twice Dead King book. I finished the first about two years ago now and been meaning to begin the second, just haven't. Also should probably pick-up Brutal Kunnin' again, but books from an Orks perspective are always a little bit silly, so I need to see if I can get over that.

not quite on my backlog of books, but i have seen them, just not being interested to dip my toes into them. I believe Brutal Kunnin is a more humorous take on WH40K universe from an orks perspective. etc.


For necron stories, i really do recommend infinite and dvide by robert rath as it does give the 2 necrons some decent personalities and its feel like 2 geriatrics just hating on each other. Funny thing is that they had been enemies in life and all throughout robot life.



I am of course reading the final book of the fabius bile series, after that i hope to read something away from the WH40k universe. I have been reading some comics but honestly, not much to say about them.

 

[BeardyHat]

A couple of days ago, in the library I have in my front yard I found quite a few Star Trek books. I've actually been meaning to pick one up for a little while and see if they're any good, so it was quite serendipitous.

So I've been reading Star Trek - The Next Generation: Here There Be Dragons. I've only read about 4 chapters so far, but I have to say I'm enjoying it and it feels so far like the author has captured the characters quite well.

I feel a little silly reading a TV show based book from 30 years ago, but it's some nice fluff and I've been wanting to get back to my TNG watch for a little while here and this is filling that void.

 

[Johnway]

Another few books finished, lets start with Great naval battles of the 20th century by Jean-Yves Delitte. its a volume of storeis detailing 3 battles: TsuShima, Jutland, Midway. Honestly i was incredibly disappointed by this. Yes, the art work is nice, but the story and battles themselves are woefully undercooked with very little information to events that took place during these battles. if you want a book that has more story and/or history to them, try The battle or Berezina (granted, they span over 3 volumes).


But for the main event, i finished Fabius Bile: Manflayer by josh Reynolds .The 3rd and final book of the fabius bile series. Continuing after events in the second book, after the schism that took place, Fabius bile has made a visit to the Dark Elder Home corramuagh to study their knowledge of flesh craft in the hopes of curing himself and developing a superior human species. But Fabius being Fabius has royally pissed off his Dark Elder hosts and now they're out for blood.

As Fabius Bile losses mount and a disasterous counter attack results in even greater losses and much internal infighting, Fabius has little choice but to make a final stand against the Dark Elder, he goes on pilgrimage to rally his forces and cash in every favor for the final battle knowing that it would not be enough to weather the onslaught. The center cannot hold and nothing will be the same ever again.

A cracking finale for our anti-hero. Well written and goes into much detail into the man himself and a bit of lore as to why/how he refuses to die even if you try to kill him. in Many ways he does come off as a sympathetic character, but as others have noted, he may think he is doing humanity a great favour, but in truth all he has created are monsters.

 

[Johnway]

Another few books finished. this time i'm reading The Rise and fall of the Trigan empire written by Mike Butterworth, illustrated by don lawrence. The volumes collects the stories of the Trigan empire from its founding and the adventures and adversity from the key players. For stories created in the 60's the comic is pretty ahead of its time and the artwork is top notch. The stories themselves aren't exactly indepth being set for children but entertaining stuff all the same even sometimes its a bit repetitive. Either its the aliens, the lokens, drugs, criminals or traitors causing problems.


But the main event, i was written the critically acclaimed book The city & the City by China Miéville. At the heart is a crime novel with a twist. The story takes place in the city state of Besźel where detective Tyador Borlú is tasked to solve a murder and bring those responsible to justice. As Borlu continues the investigation the mystery deepens becoming increasingly complicated when the women was identified that she lived and worked in Ul Qoma (bezel's neighbour state). All hopes to palm off the criminal case to Breach is dashed and Borlu has no choice but to see the case to the end.

Its all very standard stuff, but what makes it more interesting is where the location the story is set. The quirky complexities of the geographical and political environment between the 2 states makes Borlu's job much harder. The first third of the story is somewhat slow but once you get to the second act the story starts to pick up momentum and goes at break neck pace as Borlu goes rogue and gets Breach powers to finally solve the mystery.

By the end i did enjoy the book as there were plenty of twists and turns as to who committed the crime soon it involves ultranationalists, unificationists, a possible secret 3rd city, artifacts and corruption. But it doesn't really get good until all the pieces are in place and we finally get the full story fleshed out of the city states and the key organizations. i wouldn't mind picking up more of China's other books.

 

[red_5ive]

My first post in this thread, so just a little background. I read a lot more when I was younger, mostly sci-fi/fantasy, some favs from the usual suspects (Asimov, Adams, Niven, Card, Heinlein, Hamilton, Eddings, Jordan, etc.) but as I'd gotten older it was getting harder and harder to read print as I have a slight astigmatism. Plus, let's face it, as you get older it just sucks if you came from having better than 20/20 vision to having to use reading glasses, and eventually prescription, which is where I am now.

But enter the Kindle, and e-books in general. I never wanted to give up a physical book, but my vision being what it is (I'm far-sighted) I gave it a try some years back and I was hooked. I love the backlight and ability to zoom, plus I have my library everywhere I go. I also have a foldable phone, so it's a nerdy bonus to be able to open it like a book to read an e-book. The only thing missing is that book smell. Not to fret, coffee is still real and I can enjoy a cup and still play some background music (preferably classical) while I read.

I started into the Witcher series a couple of months ago and am currently on the third book, The Blood of Elves. The first book was initially a hard read as I didn't care for the author's writing style, but I trudged through it, and mid-way through the 2nd I started to settle in. I'm really enjoying it so far. Like most fantasy books, I'm enjoying the characters and story, but the world building is captivating.

 

[Zloth]

I'm re-reading Sanderson's Way of Kings. There have been a whole bunch of "he set that up way back here!?" revelations! Reading it after knowing what goes on in later books (and even some other Cosmere books) almost makes it feel like I'm reading a whole new book.

Plus, let's face it, as you get older it just sucks if you came from having better than 20/20 vision to having to use reading glasses, and eventually prescription, which is where I am now.

As I get older? I was there before I was 10! It didn't suck all that much, though, fixing my near sightedness. "Oh, you mean I'm supposed to be able to distinguish leaves on a tree that's across the street?"

Now, when you eventually get cataracts, and they have to replace your lenses anyway, you might find that it will also fix the astigmatism, and you can go back to no glasses.

 

[red_5ive]

As I get older? I was there before I was 10!

Well I was referring to having better than 20/20 and not having to wear glasses until later in life, which was my case up until my early 40s when I had to start wearing reading glasses. It has been - and still is - a difficult adjustment. I had to renew my driver license summer of last year, and I barely passed the eye test. But just in the span from then to now, I've had to wear readers full time whether working or gaming and watching TV, and prescription progressive lenses with everything else, including driving. Whereas the prior 10 years or so I was getting away with just readers, and only with up close reading.

 

[ZedClampet]

Could have sworn I posted in this thread the other day. I did a search for the post and didn't find it, so I assume I didn't actually hit "post". If you've already read this somewhere else, my apologies...

Anyway, I used to read 2 or 3 books a week, but haven't read anything in awhile. But this week I started reading a sci-fi novel (not mentioning the name because an AI bot might respond and spoil it for me).

The problem I'm having is that I'm treating it like an immersive sim. I keep thinking up possible solutions to the problem and then getting irritated about it.

 

[Johnway]

Well colour me surprised. Did you know that there is a sequel to 1984? it was released last year. its called Julia and its the retelling of the 1984 story from Julia's perspective. not read it, but i'm intrigued enough to read it. Will it be as good as George Orwell's book? plenty of positive reviews, but i'll be the judge of that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Julia-Sandra-Newman/dp/0063265338

 

[Zloth]

Will it be as good as George Orwell's book? plenty of positive reviews, but i'll be the judge of that.

Honestly, that shouldn't be too hard. Orwell has GREAT world building in 1984, but otherwise... well, parts of it are good, but it was hard for me to stay awake through other parts.

 

[Johnway]

Honestly, that shouldn't be too hard. Orwell has GREAT world building in 1984, but otherwise... well, parts of it are good, but it was hard for me to stay awake through other parts.

I think i had something similar in places. it was trying to get my head around some of the political environment (like how the world was divided into regional empires) and some of the smaller nuisances got lost that i had to watch a youtube video for a visual guide. it doesn't help that i was reading it before bed so my concentration wasn't at its best.

Apparently Julia tries to answer/fill in some of those gaps, but again no idea whether its any good.

 

[Johnway]

Another book finished, this time its J.G Ballard's highrise. Previously i watched the movie and was intrigued by the authors work and wanted to see if the book answered more of my questions i had about the movie. Interestingly it seems the movie deviates from the storybook quite a bit in places, its more violent for one thing.

Story follows 3 people: Robert laing, Richard Wilder and anthony royal who all move into a modern apartment complex with all the various modern comforts life has to offer including a supermarket, a bank, school and swimming pools. The apartment is filled with people who you would class as professionals, (airline pilots, hostesses, tv presenters, book critics, stock brokers, photographers for the royal household, leading doctors, surgeons etc). Even in the early outset, the modern block of flats has simmering tensions between each floor. The lower floors are occupied by the "poorer" class, the middle set of blocks are occupied by those who are mostly indifferent and want to settle into life/privacy at he flat and the upper floors occupied by the super rich and successful. The upper floors hates the lower floors for their children causing problems for the upper floors and the lower hates the upper floors for the lack of control of their dogs. But all things considered, these are mostly class/petty squabbles and is just something for the people to adapt to block living. most knowing the few floors above or below them but keeping to themselves.

The simmering tension soon escalates as services begin to fail at the high rise and accumulation of factors soon results in the high rise society to collapse into tribalism and eventually collapsing into a post apocalyptic state as only a few tenants are left standing (alive) and the highrise is nothing more then a trash filled, hollow shell.

Whilst the book does go into some depth as to events and how people give into the mania, i still think there were questions or makes you think "why the hell didn't you bloody leave?". The book does try to answer it, the external staff did leave, but those who lived in the highrise and worked in it stayed. Another example for richard Wilder it was a mixture of pride (to leave felt like the richer snobs winning) and the fact that they couldn't sell the flat as they would have gotten less for what the bought it for. but more stranger is why did people start to focus more on high rise then the outside world? Why did they stop leaving at all? For robert laing, it seems like he one day started to suffer from agoraphobia and opts to stay in. Admittedly, part of the appeal was the collapse in society meant they could indulge in forbidden temptations like the thrill of violence but again, strange. But i suppose i shouldn't judge, it was written in the 70s.

its not a bad book, but i think if i was to do an update of the book, i would have probably set it in a space station or in pleasure cruise spaceship that encounters disaster. I'll look into some of Ballards other books as they do seem interesting.

 

[isleepinabed]

Non-fiction ok?
I have recently finished the 4 books in the "The Untold History of (Japanese) Game Developers". It's quite a ride.
These were initially kickstarted with the purpose of shipping the author to Japan to interview mostly obscure Japanese developers (though there are some quite well-known ones as well), in a context of the ephemeral nature of video games and the fact that some had passed away and all are, inevitably, ageing.
The first 3 volumes deal with this and are massive, over A4 sized, over 400pages, small font size and almost wall-to-wall text. This leads to a first criticism which is the need for editing. While, as said before, there is a valid purpose to these, the content is composed of literal interview transcripts. Due to this, there's a lot of stuff like incidental comments, repeated comments over various interviews, etc that should have been cut and streamlined. There is also practically no digest or summary. Everything is just as it is and there's no rationalization of what these developers share, as part of the greater scheme of things. Thus, it reads like a real-time documentary on someone going to Japan to interview these people rather than a book with beginning, development, conclusions.
In all, there's a lot of content in these, and interesting or even important content, but most of it is in a raw state.
Mind, there aren't many books available that deal with the subject.

 

[Johnway]

Another book finished, this time its Bloodlines by Chris wraight. Its part of the recent Warhammer crime series, set in the wh40k universe on the hive city Varangantua. The hive itself is your typical heavy industry city where the citizens toil long and hard being exploited by the few powerful, corrupt factions. Atm the warhammer crime series its a sort of anthology of crime stories (from both sides of the law) as none of the characters have had a second book.

Anyway, back to the story. Probabtor (detective) Agusto Zidarov has been assigned a case to investigate the disappearance ofthe scion of a wealthy family. Zidarov senses that nothing about the case makes sense, why ask the local law enforcement to solve a crime when they have the wealth to hire bounty hunters (etc) and keep the law out of it? his suspicions only increase when there is scant information or leads, forcing him to use intuition and hunches.

Over time Zidarov is lead deeper and deeper into the the illegal practice of blackmarket rejuve treatments and an ever growing web of powerful and dangerous organizations too big for a single probator to stop. How will Zidarov solve the case and bring justice to those involved? How will he bring about a satisfying resolution to a case that no one wants solved and simply go cold?


On the whole its a fairly generic police novel. The WH40K stuff doesn't really factor into the story. Much of the lore barely makes it into the story and it could be any Sci fi detective novel. But that said, i was suitably entertained by it and looking forward to reading the next full length story.