BoneDaddy Posted September 7, 2010 Report Share Posted September 7, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just re-read "Soon I Will Be Invincible". I know it has been talked about on the board before' date=' but I thought I'd plug it again. A very good Superhero novel, a Silver/Bronze Age Villain facing a team of Iron Age Heroes in a Superhero world that as a Champions GM I'm tempted to stat out. Villain as angry, bullied nerd; Heroes as the popular kids with their own less obvious pain. Some bits of the world background were excellent, some of the themes explored didn't work for me. Still consider it well worth reading.[/quote'] I've read it three or four times now, and I know it isn't perfect by a long shot, but it has so much really good stuff in it I can forgive it its shortcomings. "When life gives you lemons you squeeze them, hard. Make invisible ink. Make an acid poison. Fling it in their eyes." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted September 16, 2010 Report Share Posted September 16, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist - absolutely superb! The film of this (in Swedish) is brilliant. Like the other great Swedish book and film adaptation, The Girl Who Played With The Dragon Tattoo, there is talkof there being an English language version Just finished White Night by Jim Butcher. Elaine and Dresden back together and the White Court of Vampires playing foul. As usual Jim puts in things that you are not expecting. Like what Thomas is now doing, and who comes to the rescue in the Deeps and Persephone. I desperately want to know who Cowl is but we won't find out for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted September 16, 2010 Report Share Posted September 16, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo will start shooting in a few weeks. Daniel "Awesomest Bond Evar!" Craig and an unknown, Rooney Mara, plays the leads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... It won't be as good as the Swedish version and Rapace is the Girl etc. Besides The Girl Who Played With Fire opens shortly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... All three movies premiered within a year over here. The same for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Maybe not. I was not aware that the third had been made. Excellent. I saw the first on DVD. Strong stuff but good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Rapace has reportedly landed a small part in the next Guy Richie Sherlock Holmes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just finished several good books. Blue Diablo and its sequel, Hell Fire by Ann Aguirre. They're urban fantasy, but there's nary a vampire nor werewolf to be seen. Instead, we have our heroine, Corine Solomon, whose sole ability is psychometry--she can touch objects and get information from them. She can see their past, or their possible future, and those of the people they're associated with. She also gets burns on her hands when she uses this power (for reasons that are explained in the story, it's not typically how it works). In addition to Corine, there are witches, sorcerors and wizards (there's a definite difference between the two), psychics, and other people like Corine who have a single specific Gift. Written in first-person by a female protagonist, it also includes a couple of very hot guys who are both attracted to her (and vice versa), one of whom is an ex-boyfriend she split with for good reasons. One of the things I liked about this series is that there isn't a lot of typical UF relationship angst. Yes, she's hot for both guys, but there are very good, very adult reasons why pursuing the relationships wouldn't be a good idea. (There's a much more adult, "yeah, it would be fun, but it's also a bad idea, so just suck it up" feel to it than a lot of similar books.) But equally good, if not better, is Feed by Mira Grant (aka Seanan Maguire). It's the story of a world where the zombie apocalypse happened...twenty years earlier. Countless people died in the initial chaos and destruction, but things eventually settled down--in a new status quo that includes the ever-present possibility of zombie attacks. See, the zombie virus is EVERYWHERE. As in, every mammal above about 40 pounds harbors it. Needless to say, there are no more large carnivores, but that doesn't mean you won't be attacked by zombie deer or larges dogs if you aren't careful. Mostly it remains dormant. It only becomes active, or "amplifies" and takes over the host organism, under two conditions: when the host dies, and when the host is exposed to active virus (i.e., attack by zombies, or exposure to bodily fluids from zombies, zombie victims, attack scenes, etc.). The world is divided into zones rated by how secure they are. Carrying of firearms is extremely common (don't leave home with them), and the SouthPark phrase, "he was comin' right at me!" is generally all the excuse you need to kill a suspected zombie...even if you were wrong. People passing into or out of secured areas, and in more secure areas, at every checkpoint, must submit to blood tests*. If you pass, you can pass. If you fail...at best you'll be contained until the authorities come to dispose of you; at worst, you'll be instantly incinerated by the automated defenses. Every home is a fortress, as is every vehicle. Travel is dangerous, and travel outside of secured areas (like cities) requires permission and a "flight" plan. Responding to traffic accidents (especially in unsecured areas), needless to say, is incredibly hazardous, and though they _may_ be willing to risk their lives to test your blood before allowing you to get close, they don't have to. The plot concerns our hero and heroine (siblings), who are bloggers who--among other things--report on zombie events (and are licensed and armed to venture into dangerous areas), and who get tapped to report on the campaign of a Presidential contender. It's a fascinating book, and the world-building is first rate. *Disposable blood testing units--stick your finger or your hand in the device, get poked with a needle or needles, wait for the lights to turn green (yay!) or red (oh noes!)--are ubiquitous. They range from cheap ones that will give a false negative 3 times out of ten, to incredibly expensive devices that are NEVER wrong. Most people use middle-of-the-road units that have an acceptably low rate of false negatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 2, 2010 Report Share Posted October 2, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... havent been able to read much lately but got What Distant Deeps by David Drake. Lt Leary and the Sissies are forced to avert a coup with the aid of their hated enemies, the Alliance. Also got 61 Hours. I was surprised it was out in paperback so soon, but I like Jack Reacher's adventures. It starts with a conversation and ends with a fatal shooting. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted October 2, 2010 Report Share Posted October 2, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The last fantasy book I read was Book I in the Hidden Earth Chronicles,The Darkness of the Light by Peter David. The heroine is a Pleasurer, a type of human sex slave that bonds with her owner,becoming a beserker if that person is threatened. (Oh come on,every Peter David main adult character is at least sexually active!) The book takes place centuries into the future, when humanity has been almost exterminated by the Twelve Races, several magical species who have been exiled from their native dimension due to their warlike ways, and remain as aggressive as ever. Not for prudes or human supremacists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Tom 2009 Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I've managed to get a good bit of reading in over the last couple of months, both sci-fi and fantasy both. On the sci-fi front, I've gotten to read Lucifer's Hammer, the novelized version of Star Trek (the rebooted ST), Relic and its sequel Reliquary. I was hoping to find some Berzerkers and/or Horseclans novels, but the store didn't have any in stock (either they didn't carry those particular books, or they're out of print). As far as fantasy books go, I've read all of the Inheritance Cycle books that are currently out (the Eragon stories), as well as all of the Harry Potter books (these ones belong to another family member). Another set of fantasy novels that I've gotten to read (and which also belong to another family member) are a set of stories involving dragons and the humans that they interact with, written by G.A. Aiken (Dragon Actually, About A Dragon, What A Dragon Should Know, and the most recent in the set, Last Dragon Stand- ing). In reading these books, I couldn't help but think of how much they read like a Fantasy Hero campaign, in that there are equal parts conflict, drama, humor, and (be warned: I'm about to use the R word here) romance. There are some adult themes here and there in these stories, so keep them out of reach of the younger minds and hands in your homes. While there are at present only four books in the series out at this time, the way that the fourth book ended has me thinking that there might be a fifth book in the works. Major Tom 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I do a lot of reading on the Metro coming home from work. Recently I finished COunting Heads by David Marusek. While I see some use for my own Kazei 5 setting, over all I wasn't all that impressed. Perhaps I was interested in the wrong characters, but the ones who I found sparkled my interest all seemed to come to bad and/or inconclusive ends, while those who I really didn't care a bout seemed to get the good ends. I also read Children of Men by PD James. While the plot is generally the same as the movie, the book itself is so bland that I never felt the tension the film built. It was as if England, being, well, England, decided to slip slowly asleep, as opposed to the movie's strong "the end is coming and things are falling apart" panic vibe. To sum up... I can't recommend either of them as worth reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Blameless by Gail Carriger In a parallel 19th century vampires and werewolves are major forces in British society, but our heroine Alexa has the power to strip them of their powers and immortality with a touch. She's also the living embodiment of "Well, really!" Really funny series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrix3 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Blameless by Gail Carriger In a parallel 19th century vampires and werewolves are major forces in British society, but our heroine Alexa has the power to strip them of their powers and immortality with a touch. She's also the living embodiment of "Well, really!" Really funny series. Read all three of these this fall, and I heartily endorse them for anyone the least bit interested in steampunk or gaslamp fantasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... To follow the Steampunk recommendations, I just finished Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, an Alt-History steampunk yarn set in an 1880 where the Yukon Gold rush occurred just as the California Rush was faltering, and thus Seattle got itself boomtowned 30 years earlier than in history. The Russians, afraid their selling off a valuable resource, offer a prize to anyone who could design a machine that can bore out gold under glacial ice. One design, the Boneshaker, won the contest, but in 1863 on a maiden test destroys the downtown district and releases a corrosive volcanic zombie gas up from beneath the city. The civic authorities contain the heavier than air gas behind, eventually, a 200 foot tall wall surrounding the contaminated region. The book, set 17 years after the disaster, is the story of the inventors son running away to seek the truth about his father inside the blasted zombie infested interior of what was once the urban center of Seattle, and his Mother's quest to find and rescue him. Don't want to say anything more, but it well worth reading. Mad Scientists, airship pirates, a Gasmask clad Zombie fightin' soldier of fortune with a sonic cannon named "Daisy"... Yes, it was good. I'll actually give it five gears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Recently read "The Great Women Superheroes" by Trina Robbins. A really interesting overview of female superheroes. Angry at times (not surprisingly !) but generally told with humour. I encountered lots of characters that I hadn't heard of before (such as "The Spider Queen" who wore web shooters on her wrists and swung from buildings TWENTY years before "Spiderman" came on the scene !) Published by Kitchen Sink Press in 1996. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo_bones Posted November 11, 2010 Report Share Posted November 11, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... What Fire Cannot Burn by John Ridley. It is the sequel to Those Who Walk In Darkness, which I liked more than this one. There were some obvious twists in this one (at least I thought so) but one major one about halfway through that really caught me off guard. So not as good as the original, but still worth reading IMO. I also read most of The Darker Mask (edited by Ownen King and John McNally) which is a collection of short stories about superheroes all by African American authors. I found most of them to be pretty bland, but there are a few gems in there. I particularly enjoyed one about a man rising through the ranks of henchmen for different villains, but sadly way more miss than hit in the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted November 11, 2010 Report Share Posted November 11, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Read The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. The giants are rising to challenge and destroy the Olympians after the Titans lose their war for Olympus. Percy Jackson is missing. A new group of heroes are called to deal with the menace. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted November 11, 2010 Report Share Posted November 11, 2010 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Reread Star Surgeon by Alan E. Nourse on Project Gutenberg. Still a good read, despite the central conceit of Earth becoming a giant planetary hospital.Recommended for any SF reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Read Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. All of Harry Dresden's short cases and a new story with Murph as the hero after Changes. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Currently reading Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold I'll let you know what I think when I'm finished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Read Ghost of a Chance by Simon Greene. The Carnaki Institute sends agents to stop hauntings. The Crowley Project sends agents to get what they can out of hauntings. The monster in the subway wants to destroy the world. I like the premise and the characters are typical Greene weird. The problem I have noticed he uses the same terms over and over like he is cutting and pasteing passages to other parts of his book. It gets annoying after a while. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Recently read A Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. I found them both very readable and swift moving, and certainly not a bad read. However.... In Journey, I was amazed to discover that, when you get right down to it, nothing happens. The characters journey to Iceland, venture down the volcano, and then walk, and walk, and walk, and walk.... Anyone who complained about the long scenes of characters traveling on foot in Fellowship of the Ring would despise a true-to-the book adaptation of Journey. They also don't do anything. Okay, yes, a character to lost for a chapter, they build a boat and sail across an underground sea, and see some strange animals.... but that's it. There's no real "adventure" per se. In addition, the science is laughable, being either really dated, or out-and-out wrong (and some of it was wrong at the time it was written.) That said, it's a must-read for anyone wanting to do Hollow Earth and/or Victorian/Pulp lost worlds-type adventure. 20,000 Leagues is better in that there's a lot more action (then again, its about twice as long as Journey). The story takes you all over the world, from the surface of the ocean to the bottom-most depths—the 20,000 leagues mentioned is the distance the Nautilus travels, not how deep it goes. There's also the enigmatic Captain Nemo, who's a great Victorian/Pulp-era character, not to mention the super science sub itself. However, once again, the science is often utterly wrong and/or dated, and in some cases, it was completely wrong when Verne wrote it (and he might even known it was wrong and not cared.) Still, not a bad read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I think Verne meant Nemo to be a Pole, and the oppressive nation whose ships he sank were either German or Russian. Later, he was turned into an Indian prince ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I thought Nemo was Armenian or similar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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