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StarTopic Books |ST| Now You're Reading with POWER

Does anyone know of any A Song of Ice and Fire fanfiction involving Link from Legend of Zelda.
 
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Re-reading The Hobbit for the second time to start 2022 off. After that I’ll probably start a read through of Harry Potter, alternating between that, Lord of the Rings and Foundation.
 
A Practical Guide to Conquering the World, by KJ Parker - hugely satisfying conclusion to his "Siege trilogy." Of the three, the first (Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City) has the most amusingly voiced character, the second (How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It) has the best story, and A Practical Guide really widens the scope before shutting down the kitchen, putting the chairs up on the tables, mopping the floor, and burning the place to the ground on its way out.

How High We Go in the Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu - A W E S O M E super wide screen humanist science fiction novel that covers a ton of ground. First part hit really hard because (not a spoiler, this is premise/first chapter stuff) there's a plague and it's way worse than the 50cc pandemic we are utterly failing our way through now. It's been a couple years since I read new science fiction that went this big and doesn't lose the plot along the way. I was worried at the beginning that it read like a fix-up novel, but the individual sequences were super compelling, and of course, it's not a fix-up, it unfurls into this collage novel that's playing a big game. Debut novelist. Fantastic. Best science fiction novel I've read since Embassytown came out back in 2011.
 
Re-reading The Hobbit for the second time to start 2022 off. After that I’ll probably start a read through of Harry Potter, alternating between that, Lord of the Rings and Foundation.
I plan to read Lord of the Rings for the first time soon... but honestly I'm not sure if I should start with The Hobbit first.

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World, by KJ Parker - hugely satisfying conclusion to his "Siege trilogy." Of the three, the first (Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City) has the most amusingly voiced character, the second (How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It) has the best story, and A Practical Guide really widens the scope before shutting down the kitchen, putting the chairs up on the tables, mopping the floor, and burning the place to the ground on its way out.

How High We Go in the Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu - A W E S O M E super wide screen humanist science fiction novel that covers a ton of ground. First part hit really hard because (not a spoiler, this is premise/first chapter stuff) there's a plague and it's way worse than the 50cc pandemic we are utterly failing our way through now. It's been a couple years since I read new science fiction that went this big and doesn't lose the plot along the way. I was worried at the beginning that it read like a fix-up novel, but the individual sequences were super compelling, and of course, it's not a fix-up, it unfurls into this collage novel that's playing a big game. Debut novelist. Fantastic. Best science fiction novel I've read since Embassytown came out back in 2011.

Sounds good!

BTW:

Not sure if this belongs here, but which one is better for fanfiction?

FF.net or ArchiveOfOurOwn (AO3)?
 
Actually, I'm not sure how I'll do it, but I don't want to focus on "anything and everything," just the stuff I'm interested in.

I think that I'll have a PDF open and a document open in another tab. I basically want to list all the information given about them and their backstories and leave comments as well. I'm... not sure how else I can improvise though. I haven't really done this thing before.
I'm not sure if it's the sort of thing you'd be interested in, but have you considered comparing the characters and situations, highlighting where they might be similar and where they are disparate, perhaps how these details affect themes and so forth? It seems a bit outside your current plans, but seemed worth asking.

Re-reading The Hobbit for the second time to start 2022 off. After that I’ll probably start a read through of Harry Potter, alternating between that, Lord of the Rings and Foundation.
I'm one of those weird people who never read Harry Potter way back when, but those other selections are excellent.

I plan to read Lord of the Rings for the first time soon... but honestly I'm not sure if I should start with The Hobbit first.
One isn't necessarily required reading for the other, but you probably couldn't go wrong to start with The Hobbit. It's lighter and breezier, the sense of humor very apparent, and some little bits might deepen your appreciation of the later works. It's a fast read.
The Lord of the Rings is a much different experience, indeed, denser, more meandering, and larger in scope. A lot of people seem to find it dry, but Tolkien retains his wit, and there is some beautiful language usage.
And then to The Silmarillion.

Not sure if this belongs here, but which one is better for fanfiction?

FF.net or ArchiveOfOurOwn (AO3)?
I never got into that scene, really, but I found a little comparison you might find useful. I do know writer Naomi Novik had a hand in the creation of Archive of Our Own, so that's cool.

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World, by KJ Parker - hugely satisfying conclusion to his "Siege trilogy." Of the three, the first (Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City) has the most amusingly voiced character, the second (How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It) has the best story, and A Practical Guide really widens the scope before shutting down the kitchen, putting the chairs up on the tables, mopping the floor, and burning the place to the ground on its way out.

How High We Go in the Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu - A W E S O M E super wide screen humanist science fiction novel that covers a ton of ground. First part hit really hard because (not a spoiler, this is premise/first chapter stuff) there's a plague and it's way worse than the 50cc pandemic we are utterly failing our way through now. It's been a couple years since I read new science fiction that went this big and doesn't lose the plot along the way. I was worried at the beginning that it read like a fix-up novel, but the individual sequences were super compelling, and of course, it's not a fix-up, it unfurls into this collage novel that's playing a big game. Debut novelist. Fantastic. Best science fiction novel I've read since Embassytown came out back in 2011.
I still have Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City and How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It waiting on my shelf. It looks like there's a lot of that in my future.

How High we go in the Dark sounds interesting.

I was going to read The Arabian Nights, but it's getting a new translation? Wonder if I should start with that translation rather than the older ones...

Hmm, that sounds like it could be interesting.
 
I just finished reading The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, by Keigo Hashino.


It was a nice read. I felt like it could make for a nice movie!

I googled the title and apparently it did get a movie adaptation in 2017. XD
Maybe one day I'll check that out too.
 
I just finished reading The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, by Keigo Hashino.


It was a nice read. I felt like it could make for a nice movie!

I googled the title and apparently it did get a movie adaptation in 2017. XD
Maybe one day I'll check that out too.
Is this one of those "classics" that get translated or an actual novel that many Japanese people read and enjoy and have a fanbase for?

Not being snippy, genuinely curious.

😓
 
Is this one of those "classics" that get translated or an actual novel that many Japanese people read and enjoy and have a fanbase for?

Not being snippy, genuinely curious.

😓
Honestly, I have no idea myself. 😅

I just randomely bought it with other books I was planning on getting, so I have no prior knowlegde about this book.
I don't think it's a classic though.. atleast I've never heard of this book before. It's from 2012 if that helps!
 
I finished reading Mordew by Alex Pheby and I was blown away by it.

1. It's a fantasy novel with an amazing amount of originality and lore (it has an encyclopedic glossary that is like 100 pages - do not read it until you finish the book)
2. It's chosen one narrative, but not cringe like Harry Potter, who whines about his lot and doesn't want to make life choices because he is afraid of the consequences.
3. This thing is no joke. It's ultra grim dark. It pulls no punches. There are things in this book which will haunt you.
4. The magic system is awe-some. There seems to be no limit to what is possible or impossible.
5. It's the first book in a planned trilogy. Book 2 - Malarkoi - is out this August. I have already pre-ordered it.

This book is compared a lot to the Gormanghast series by Mervyn Peake - which I have never read - so I and going to start reading that series next.

Library of America is sending me the next volume in my subscription - 101 Stories by O. Henry

https://www.loa.org/books/657-101-stories
 
I may actually start with the Dunk & Egg books before I do my re-read of A Song of Ice and Fire.
 
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Finished up The Hobbit and started The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. More than halfway through, it’s quite short but it’s an amazing read so far.
 

Everyone should take a look at this.

These are some damn good book covers.

I actually want to buy one. Of course, I'll probably read a book from this selection somewhere else.

I'm actually experimenting with romance novels. Well, I will sometime soon, but you get the point.
 

Everyone should take a look at this.

These are some damn good book covers.

I actually want to buy one. Of course, I'll probably read a book from this selection somewhere else.

I'm actually experimenting with romance novels. Well, I will sometime soon, but you get the point.
My wife is becoming an expert on erotic and romance literature. Got some old Anais Nin hardcovers from the local used book store and sort of building a small erotic story section of my library. Good luck to you.
 
Well, thread seems quiet.

What's everybody reading?

Doing some research for a very special project of mine; reading up on tons of history books.
 
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Addiction by Design, by Natasha Dow Schüll - Became aware of this book via a recent episode of the Game Studies Study Buddies podcast. It's a super readable anthropological study on gambling behaviors and the industries behind them. Schüll combines a ton of research, interviews with gambling machine designers, stories from gambling addicts, etc. into a definitive kinda statement. It's totally bizarre - as the Game Studies Study Buddies observed - the extent to which Schüll was describing a bunch of badness that was more or less constrained to casinos 20 years ago but has now totally permeated culture through video games, especially on the mass market end (IAP and loot boxes) and the leet gamer end (IAP and loot boxes). Very easy recommendation for anybody interested in games of any kind, which I imagine we all are.
 
Oh, btw:

Does anyone have a book on the science of story-telling?

Like, how it works?

Or how culture affects it?

Anything on poetics or narratology?

Gonna need something like that.
 
Oh, btw:

Does anyone have a book on the science of story-telling?

Like, how it works?

Or how culture affects it?

Anything on poetics or narratology?

Gonna need something like that.

Instant recommendation: for literary theory discussion on video game board, an unusual but useful starting point might be Cybertext, by Espen Aarseth (1997) - the book's focus is digital literature, but Aarseth places it in a much wider perspective of ergodic ("open", dynamic, etc.) literature throughout history.

Something to avoid, or not dig too deeply into: a ton of writing - starting with Aristotle's "Poetics" and rushing straight up through Vladimir Propp in the early 20th century and probably most recently Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" and its pop culture hangers-on in the later 20th century - on literary theory by way of atomizing stories into a zillion discrete little types or aspects, and theoretically assembling new stories and/or meaning for one's own life from the little building blocks. I'd say skip 100% of that stuff, or maybe just read "Poetics" and realize that nothing has really developed past that point.

You mentioned you are reading some history. One thing that was really important for me personally was to develop some understanding of oral storytelling and/or oral transmission. Consider that this was, and is, how we humans have spent most of our time telling and listening to stories (and all kinds of information). If I could recommend one book - and it's a real classic in this field - it'd be The Singer of Tales, by Albert Lord (1960). This book builds on a bunch of research and analysis of Slavic epic poems/songs to then integrate or survey a bunch of the classic epics. A more recent book I super loved, although with a different focus, is The Art of Listening: A Guild to the Early Teachings of Buddhism, by Sarah Shaw (2014). This one is a Buddhist history book focused specifically on the early Buddhist suttas, but even if you're not interested in that, the introduction and first 2 chapters are a really great introduction to oral literature and how it operates (including some discussion of Albert Lord's work).
 
Instant recommendation: for literary theory discussion on video game board, an unusual but useful starting point might be Cybertext, by Espen Aarseth (1997) - the book's focus is digital literature, but Aarseth places it in a much wider perspective of ergodic ("open", dynamic, etc.) literature throughout history.

Something to avoid, or not dig too deeply into: a ton of writing - starting with Aristotle's "Poetics" and rushing straight up through Vladimir Propp in the early 20th century and probably most recently Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" and its pop culture hangers-on in the later 20th century - on literary theory by way of atomizing stories into a zillion discrete little types or aspects, and theoretically assembling new stories and/or meaning for one's own life from the little building blocks. I'd say skip 100% of that stuff, or maybe just read "Poetics" and realize that nothing has really developed past that point.

You mentioned you are reading some history. One thing that was really important for me personally was to develop some understanding of oral storytelling and/or oral transmission. Consider that this was, and is, how we humans have spent most of our time telling and listening to stories (and all kinds of information). If I could recommend one book - and it's a real classic in this field - it'd be The Singer of Tales, by Albert Lord (1960). This book builds on a bunch of research and analysis of Slavic epic poems/songs to then integrate or survey a bunch of the classic epics. A more recent book I super loved, although with a different focus, is The Art of Listening: A Guild to the Early Teachings of Buddhism, by Sarah Shaw (2014). This one is a Buddhist history book focused specifically on the early Buddhist suttas, but even if you're not interested in that, the introduction and first 2 chapters are a really great introduction to oral literature and how it operates (including some discussion of Albert Lord's work).
DMing you.

But this is already helpful.

Edit: Sent just now.
 
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Found it!

41ss-1K4R6S.jpg


Looked through Amazon and kept typing different phrases and search words; took some time, but I finally found and recognized it. Gonna get this book as soon as I can.
 
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41b7Zi4RgAL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Reggie Fils-Aimé has a book coming out?

How the...?

Who the...?

Did you...?

WHAT
 
Reggie Fils-Aimé has a book coming out?

There's a thread:


Hope the book has lots of details on his time at Procter & Gamble and/or Pizza Hut.
 
Good news! I finished The Horse and His Boy and I just started The Magicians Nephew! Almost done the series then I will read something not fantasy.
 
This month I’m reading through Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Everyday. It’s a lighter read but super interesting, especially since both authors used to work at Google, on Gmail and YouTube. I’ve already tried to be better about cutting distractions out in my life (smartphones are the worst for this) but this book also offers some good tips I didn’t consider.
 
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There’s a nice sale right now for a sci-fi series I really enjoy: LINK

It’s called The legend of ZERO by author Sara King.

From Amazon:
A sprawling sci-fi epic adventure that begins with a prophesized First Contact and carries our heroes through the wars and apocalypse that follows, as humans inevitably refuse to play by the rules of their new galactic overlords and generally make a nuisance of themselves on a universal scale.

Highly recommend.
 
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I think I'm gonna dive into Worm, part of the Parahuman series again!
Not sure if it counts as a book, but its a web series that was completed in 2013. I think there might even be a print of it by now.

I'd link it here but I'm not sure if it's allowed so I'll leave it at that. XD

But I remember reallllllyy loving it, and I never got too far in it's sequel, so I'm thinking of making a fresh start again!

It's about people with super powers, and it gets really intense, and has a really big cast!
(This summary doesn't do it justice but my memory is too fuzzy to give a better one)

But I'd definitely recommend it if you like dark fiction and are looking for something new to read!
 
Love Worm. Read it 2019, took me almost a month. It’s a massive read, but so worth it.

Haven’t read anything else from wildbow, I needed a break after worm. Perhaps I should try some soon.
 
A Practical Guide to Conquering the World, by KJ Parker - hugely satisfying conclusion to his "Siege trilogy." Of the three, the first (Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City) has the most amusingly voiced character, the second (How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It) has the best story, and A Practical Guide really widens the scope before shutting down the kitchen, putting the chairs up on the tables, mopping the floor, and burning the place to the ground on its way out.

How High We Go in the Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu - A W E S O M E super wide screen humanist science fiction novel that covers a ton of ground. First part hit really hard because (not a spoiler, this is premise/first chapter stuff) there's a plague and it's way worse than the 50cc pandemic we are utterly failing our way through now. It's been a couple years since I read new science fiction that went this big and doesn't lose the plot along the way. I was worried at the beginning that it read like a fix-up novel, but the individual sequences were super compelling, and of course, it's not a fix-up, it unfurls into this collage novel that's playing a big game. Debut novelist. Fantastic. Best science fiction novel I've read since Embassytown came out back in 2011.
Was How High We Go in the Dark written during the pandemic?

Both of those sound really interesting
 
I decided to do a reread of The Stormlight Archives. I’ve only read Way of Kings, Words of Radiance and Edgedancer. I wanted to read Oathbringer but after watching a few videos and reading a summary online, I figured it was just better to reread the first three and try to catch up to the series this year. It’s probably likely that the last book in this first arc will be out by 2023 anyway.
 
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I don't get to read for pleasure as much as I used to but I've enjoyed these this year (TC&TC was a re-read I snuck in before Elden Ring devoured my free time)

0VtJU2W.jpeg
 
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I recently read the All For The Game series for the first time and I'm thoroughly obsessed (plus slightly grossed out - it needs all the content warnings). If you like the found family trope, sports gays, mafia plots, and fanfiction bait, you're in for a ride.

Right now I'm struggling through The Starless Sea. It's significantly better written than AFTG, that's not the issue, it's just that every other chapter shifts in setting when I just want to get on with the main plot. It has a book-within-a-book theme, there's gaming references aplenty, and it's recommended by people I trust... I really thought I'd be more invested yet here we are. I hope it picks up.
 
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Used the last of my audible credits for now, started listening to The Martian, seems fine so far. Needed to listen to something not fantasy.
 
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My favorite books I've read this year have been The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. I'd also recommend Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Right now I'm on an Agatha Christie kick, been reading a lot of Poirot novels I never got a chance to read. I recently bought a Kindle Paperwhite, so it's very easy to just grab another book once I'm done reading it, and I like how I can sync between my phone (so I can read during downtime/lunch at work) and the Kindle itself.
 
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The last book I read out was Lights All Night Long by Lydia Fitzpatrick. It was hard to put down this book and when I finished it I couldn't help but think about for a couple weeks afterwards!

Currently I'm reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I'm liking the concept of the book and especially nowadays I've been relating to the character a lot.
Except the suicide bit, I don't relate to that. But yeah it would be amazing to get the ability to see what life would be like by reading books about different paths of your life.
 
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I also enjoyed The Midnight Library. Definitely agree that it's an interesting concept. It's pretty common to have doubts and second guess your decisions, so it was a neat way to engage with that common thread.
 
Oh hey, I kind of forgot about this topic for a while. Reading has been kind of slow lately, been distracted by other things. Currently reading Ai Weiwei's memoir, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows. Interestingly enough, most of the first half is more of a biography of his father, which is a little dry, but does serve to help understand the context in which he grew up.

Before that I read The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, which was an absolute delight. If the idea of a comedy about a bureaucracy that handles the monitoring of magical children and something genuinely uplifting and funny appeals to you, definitely check it out.
 
51P7036fhVS._SX350_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Not earth shattering but decent, solid and makes me excited to see some of his artwork this weekend!
 
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Good news! I finished The Horse and His Boy and I just started The Magicians Nephew! Almost done the series then I will read something not fantasy.
Might read the "classics" myself with the likes of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

But that's after I finish Romance of the Three Kingdoms (an even older book that I'm also reading for the first time).

:p
 
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Might read the "classics" myself with the likes of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

But that's after I finish Romance of the Three Kingdoms (an even order book that I'm also reading for the first time).

:p

Hobbit is amazing. I like LotR a lot as well but Hobbit is one of my absolutely favorites.
 
Might read the "classics" myself with the likes of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

But that's after I finish Romance of the Three Kingdoms (an even order book that I'm also reading for the first time).

:p
How far are you? I really enjoyed reading that last year.
 
How far are you? I really enjoyed reading that last year.
So far? Volume 1 of the recent translation (not the older one by Moss) but I do enjoy it. Once you dispense with pre-conceived notions of the era and the story itself, then you're good. You kinda have to grasp what Luo Guanzhong is trying to do and accept it.

I love it!
 
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Might read the "classics" myself with the likes of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

But that's after I finish Romance of the Three Kingdoms (an even older book that I'm also reading for the first time).

:p
Been reading Three Kingdoms too, it kicks so much ass
 
Might read the "classics" myself with the likes of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

But that's after I finish Romance of the Three Kingdoms (an even older book that I'm also reading for the first time).

:p
You're in for a treat with Tolkien. A lot of people find much of his work unimaginative, due entirely to years consuming products derived from what he set forth -- itself inspired by much older traditions -- but what he put together is incredible.

His works are also much less dry than detractors often claim; there's a wit to be found within.

If you want more, I would heartily recommend continuing on with The Silmarilion. It seems daunting for a lot of people, but you're already reading and enjoying The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so I'm sure you'll be fine.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms itself is an amazing piece. For all the fiction of it, it really has a strong core of historicity. And there's a lot in the historical context there.

Read the Brewitt-Taylor version, I believe, a while back. Newer renditions, I'm sure, have a much different flow.
 
You're in for a treat with Tolkien. A lot of people find much of his work unimaginative, due entirely to years consuming products derived from what he set forth -- itself inspired by much older traditions -- but what he put together is incredible.

His works are also much less dry than detractors often claim; there's a wit to be found within.

If you want more, I would heartily recommend continuing on with The Silmarilion. It seems daunting for a lot of people, but you're already reading and enjoying The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so I'm sure you'll be fine.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms itself is an amazing piece. For all the fiction of it, it really has a strong core of historicity. And there's a lot in the historical context there.

Read the Brewitt-Taylor version, I believe, a while back. Newer renditions, I'm sure, have a much different flow.
Stuff like The Silmarillion is nothing to me.

Besides, even if The Silmarillion was as dry as people said it was (doubtful) I've read some of the driest fucking text out there and still enjoyed it.
 
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