Received last Friday
If I translate, it would little book of nothing at all!
and this one:
Enough, Staying human in an engineered Age
Maybe old man, will understand the new world! that is born lately!
Re-reading this book I read first as stories in magazines in the ‘seventies, and then as this anthology at the end of that decade.
THE PERSISTENCE OF VISION. John Varley.
to quote South Park, “we all need to avoid books and stick to television”. lol
Terrible advice! many thanks to all who post in this thread.
Reminds me of a phrase heard from Bart Simpson with some regularity, “if television has taught me anything, it’s…”
Matilda has a song where they repeat, “Everything I learned, I learned from telly. The bigger the telly, the bigger the brain.” I’m not sure what we classify Matilda as. Is it written or would it be something else. I bet before movies, plays used to get the same thing where people all say the book was better after seeing the play.
To be honest though, over time I’ve morphed into learning things in videos and reading to escape to another world or explore different perspectives. Currently, I’ve been watching a lot of woodworking videos and various science videos on Youtube. With both of those topics, I’d prefer a well done long format video over a book most of the time.
When wanting to escape reality, nothing has ever topped books for me. My favorite stories are all books I have read, not movies or shows. The combination of a good author and my imagination are not going to be topped by Hollywood very easily. I’m currently in Rhythm of Way by Brandon Sanderson. It is the fourth book in an epic fantasy series that I’m in love with. I’m leaning to putting the series at the very top of my list, however, it is not finished yet. Sanderson is a fantastic author and this series is his major work at the core of his overall world. It will be 10 books once complete with two 5 book arcs. The first five our now out and I am in now rereading the forth before I read number five. It is absolutely fantastic and constantly has me thinking about interesting concepts and a foreign world. If anyone is looking for a very deep epic fantasy with its own unique world that will surprise you, the first book in the series is called titled “The Way of Kings.” I’d highly recommend it and the series.
I have read Mistborn. Astonishing creativity. Great fun.
I guess Apple just acquired the rights for the Mistborn series. I’m hoping they actually do a good job with it. Did you read all three or just the first book, Mistborn? I don’t want to give stuff away, but still a lot to that story. While you totally could end that after just the first book, Sanderson still had a lot of interesting cards to play in that series. In fact, that is a set of three series he is writing in that world he created. The first series (Mistborn trilogy) are all fantasy books that introduce a new magic system and world built around it. The second series (Wax and Wayne?) are further forward in time in the same world and are in the Steampunk genre. You get to think about how guns, cars, and the cross breading of races would impact how that world works. The third series will be a Sci-Fi series in the same world, further into the future.
While the Mistborn books are good and I’d certainly recommend them, I think it would be fair to consider them more of Sanderson’s Steller line in the PS Audio lineup. The Stormlight Archive is Sanderson’s PMG Signature line. They are more adult and significantly deeper in complexity. More along the lines of Game of Thrones than Lord of the Rings. In fact, someone dies in book four of Stormlight that shocked me more than Ned’s death in GOT and it was not even at a climax of the book. Their death was not even remotely on my radar and came as a total surprise in the book. It changes the world entirely and makes you look at everything from a different perspective to try to understand the impact. While the death was a total shock to me, Sanderson started laying the groundwork for it a couple thousand pages back and this was always part of his plan. Yet, it was not at some big battle at the climax of the book where you would expect a big reveal. The story was not leading up to it directly but the author set it up subtly. I don’t want to give things away as it was such a special moment for me. While Mistborn was a good radio hit you can just put on and enjoy easy on any system, Stormlight is a fantastic symphony orchestra playing a masterwork. It ties in so many more instruments with a vast soundstage in a prepared acoustic hall. There a teams of instruments and talented soloist playing different parts in harmony or playing off of each other, all beautifully conducted together to build in special moments that move you emotionally. The deep complexity is part of what I love in a great book series that I can’t seem to get from a movie or show.
Wonderful summary and observations.I will have to review my Kindle to see what I’ve reada and what i’m not read , I just remember the works being spectacularly good.
It’s tough to find good science fiction. Here are a few that come to mind:
The duology A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace Arkady Martine
These Burning Stars Bethany Jacobs
Slow Gods Claire North
Hyperion Dan Simmons
Though maybe not exactly science fiction, anything by Daryl Gregory.
Some of the above have follow-ons, but I have not read all of them and it isn’t necessary to do so.
— Chris
I have read the Martine and Hyperion. Wonderful stuff
